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- From: "David Consolvo" <fruitopia@firstva.com>
- To: erican Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
- Subject: [NAFEX] Kiwifruit-Yum
- Date: Sat, 14 Jun 2008 14:07:17 -0400
My favorite kiwifruit experience was in New Zealand in the late 1980's during
a
world-wide glut. My wife bought from a farmer a 25 kg bag for NZ$5,
equivalent
then to US$3. I felt for the farmer, but enjoyed five kiwifruit every
morning for
months. (They kept well in the garage - it doesn't freeze in central NZ).
To my surprise I am able to grow Actinidia deliciosa (a.k.a. A. chinensis),
i.e. fuzzy
kiwifruit, now in central Virginia. It is perhaps thanks to global warming
and my
frost-protected site. No pests, no diseases, no spraying! But make sure to
plant a
male, or two or three males, as the males seem uniformly weaker than the
females,
growing slowly if not dieing outright. It's true for hardy kiwi males as
well.
Here in central Virginia, one needs a short-season variety to ripen the
fruit. I'm
guessing the standard Hayward won't work, as it would take too long to ripen.
My
Saanichton supposedly ripens six weeks before Hayward, and it barely ripens
by
November's frosts. Hardy kiwis all ripen in October.
~David Consolvo
Hungrytown, VIrginia
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- [NAFEX] Kiwifruit-Yum, David Consolvo, 06/14/2008
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