Yeah I'm sad I never got a chance to try it when I lived where they live

I've gotten it in my farm share a couple of times. It was okay, but not great, at least in my opinion. I suspect it might be one of those fruits that's great when you're out on the frontier, minimal fruit, no refrigeration, etc, but that it's less exciting with the variety we have these days.

That said, if you want your paw paw to bear fruit, you'll need to plant two of them: they (mostly) cannot self-fertilize.

Periodically check out KSU's free paw paw seed giveaway; they don't have any left at the moment, but should have some available once paw paw season starts. There's also a guy on reddit who also does giveaways. Or check the Falling Fruit map to see if there are any trees near you.

I have paw paw seeds out the ass and already vernalized. If anyone is actually interested I can send you some.

There's like a 3 day window where they're ripe but not total mush. Great for smoothies.