Could persimmon seeds predict what kind of winter we will have?
The persimmon seeds at Fort Loudoun State Historic Park all had the same prediction.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) - It is finally feeling like fall and many of you are already wondering what the winter weather season is going to look like. Some people like to use the Farmer’s Almanac, woolly worms or persimmon seeds to help get an idea of what type of winter we will see.
You are probably familiar with the woolly worms. Depending on how long the brown or black segments the woolly warm has, it is supposed to tell you if we will see a mild or severe winter. However, you are probably not too familiar with the weather folklore surrounding persimmon seeds.
What you are supposed to do is wait until the fruit is ripe. It is best to wait until the persimmons fall off of the tree. You get the seeds out of the fruit, wash them, and let them dry. You then cut the seeds open and you will find different shapes.
Fort Loudoun State Historic Park Manger Eric Hughey spoke on the process.
“So if you find a knife, it is supposed to be cutting, icy cold. If you find the spoon you better be ready for lots of snow. And if you find the fork it is supposed to be a very mild winter. So we’ll see how that works out. This year was all spoons,” said Hughey.
Fort Loudoun State Historic Park has a few persimmon trees in the area and every year they cut open the persimmon seeds. Hughey says this is the first year the seeds have all had the same shape.
“We’ve now done 12 for the park and they were all spoons. This is the first year we have had them all be the same, usually you kind of get a variety pack but so far all spoons,” said Hughey.
This is just fun weather folklore, however, not an actual forecast. The WVLT Weather Team will have the 2021-2022 Winter Weather Outlook in November.
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