when he found a five-pound, two-ounce paw paw had grown on a tree he planted.

While most paw paws grow to less than one pound, Daniel Patterson of Crawl Hill, Hamilton Parish said the whopper he found grew from seeds he planted just a year ago. Mr. Patterson, who works for the Corporation of Hamilton, said he had never done any gardening before and was shocked by the tree.

"I was overjoyed with it.'' After planting the seeds, he said he continued to nourish the tree and said the tree "took off'' instantly.

And he noted that he picked another paw paw from the tree last week which was five and a half pounds, but it had already ripened.

He said he took the larger paw paw off the tree before it was ripe because he did not want it to fall off and split open.

"We are going to eat this one on Sunday because it does make a nice fruit and save the seeds for a new tree,'' he said.