Two Rare, Wonderful Tastes for Santa Clara Valley: Pawpaws and Cherimoyas Looking for great-tasting, interesting fruits that are expensive or hard to find? Consider planting pawpaws and their tropical cousins, cherimoyas, are an amazing possibility in the Santa Clara Valley. Native to the eastern US, pawpaws used to be so plentiful and common that founding Fathers enjoyed pawpaw custard and ate the wild-growing fruit when they traveled. And due to the warming of our climate, cherimoyas are also becoming a possibility in our area. Current SCV -CRFG chair Lisa Stapleton has been growing pawpaws and cherimoyas for more than 10 years. Just in time for dormant-season planting, she’ll share the things she’s learned growing them in her San Jose home, including good varieties to plant, how to grow them, and where to buy them.