HARDY PLANTS

Kiwai harvest

Kiwai (Actinidia arguta) are a member of the kiwi family (Actinidia deliciosa). As with most kiwi, one male and several females are usually planted to produce fruit.

At the top of our plot, two females and a male pollinator are planted at the edge.
It’s a climbing plant, with strong, chaotic growth, sometimes difficult to control. These were planted 10 years ago and have hardly ever been pruned.
Kiwai plants produce a large quantity of fruit in October, quite reliably every year and without the need for special fertilizers.
Fruits are like small, hairless kiwis, often in dense clusters.
They are eaten whole, with the skin, after removing the few hairs on the tip.
To eat them straight from the tree, you need to choose ripe fruit. It’s very difficult to see, as there’s no change in color. The only way is to touch them: if they give a little under your fingers, the fruit is ripe. The hard ones are not yet edible.
Kiwais ripen very gradually on the plant, from mid-September to mid-October for this variety (Issai kiwai). Patience is needed to select only the ripe ones.
You can also pick them while they’re still hard and leave them to ripen at home, but in a cool place. Here again, you need to feel them from time to time, to know if they’re ready to eat. Even the hardest will soften and become very tasty after a week or so.
The taste of Issai kiwais is extraordinary. The tender pulp is similar to kiwifruit, but both sweeter and more acidic depending on the degree of ripeness, with an intense licorice-like taste in the smooth skin.
They can be eaten fresh or frozen, after cutting off both ends: stem and hair.
In our experience, however, they are not very suitable for drying: too small and the seeds become troublesome.
There are many varieties of kiwai, each with its own pollinator. In this hedge there are 4 females and one male, Jumbo and Jumbo Red varieties.
They were planted 4 years ago and have already grown well, but are just starting to fruit a little.
Jumbo kiwai are a little later, around mid-October.
They are reminiscent of mini apples, but their kiwi flavour is very intense.
The skin is a little tinged with red, the pulp is very green and the taste is excellent.
Left kiwai Issai, right kiwai Jumbo.
Feijoa guavas (Acca sellowiana) are harvested at the same time.
Grafted trees planted three years ago are starting to produce.
They make bigger fruits, it’s very clear. This is the “Unique” variety.
The mandarins are also close to harvest. More on that soon.

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El Temeris 3, 6513 Monte Carasso

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