About PawpawMap — methodology

PawpawMap exists because the question “where can I actually get pawpaws?” had no good answer. The most-cited national list of pawpaw nurseries dates to 2009; most of its entries no longer exist. News articles list a handful of farms once a year, then go stale. We maintain the living version.

What counts as “verified”

Every listing on this site carries a last-verified date. A listing is verified only when there is independent, recent (2024 or later) public evidence that the operation is active — a live ordering page, a dated season announcement, current news coverage, or the organizer's own published schedule. A copyright year in a website footer doesn't count.

Candidates that fail that bar are excluded from the site entirely. We would rather list 100 real places than 500 maybes — nothing kills a foraging Saturday like a farm that closed in 2014.

Where the data comes from

Growers' and organizers' own websites and announcements
University extension programs and grower associations
Local news coverage of farms and festivals
Historic lists (like Kentucky State University's 2009 nurseries list) used as leads only — every entry re-verified before inclusion

Update policy

Listings are re-verified on a rolling basis, with a full pass before each season. Festival dates are updated as organizers announce them. Each listing page shows its own verification date so you can judge freshness yourself.

Corrections

Own or run one of these places and need a fix — or know a spot we're missing? A submission form is coming before the season. Until then, listings are corrected during the rolling re-verification pass.

Independence

No one pays to be listed. If paid placement (such as featured listings) is ever introduced, it will be clearly labeled and will never change the verification standard. Some outbound links to nurseries may become affiliate links — see the Terms of Use for the disclosure policy.