North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Lucky Pittman <lucky.pittman@murraystate.edu>]

At 10:10 PM 3/26/2003 -0500, you wrote:
> Does anyone out there have experience with The thorny blackberry, Kiowa. I
> planted some last year. Reputted to have the largest berries of all.  I
> wouldnt call it thorny. Spiny is more like it. One nasty customer. I would
> love to hear some comments on flavor and size.

Here's a Nov '99 post from Richard Moyer, that I'd saved in my NAFEX file:
"At Southern Fruit Fellowship Meeting last Jan. in Savannah (as part of GA 
Fruit and Veg Growers Meeting) a bramble session had discussion on 
blackberries. John Clark of U. of Ark spoke of several new releases from 
their program. Kiowa was released last year and has 10-12 g berries, which 
are twice the size of Triple Crown, Choctaw, Navaho, Chester, etc. I put in 
10 Kiowa this spring and was impressed with the vigor of growth and berry 
size. Now have canes 8-12 feet in length with no irrigation beyond 
mid-June. UA also released two new ones this year, Apache (8-10 g, 
thornless) and Chickasaw (10 g, thorny). Apache is more vigorous in trials 
as compared to Arapaho and Navaho. Gerard Krewer, with U. of Georgia 
extension, also has a U-Pick bramble place in south Georgia. He is 
impressed with Kiowa at 10-12 g, and so are his customers, as one can pick 
a gallon "in a few minutes" according to Krewer. Clark calls these a 
"two-bite berry". Krewer was quite willing to share info, he may be a good 
source ."

Maybe Richard & other list participants can give a rundown on their 
experience with Kiowa.


Lucky Pittman
USDA Zone 6
Hopkinsville, KY