Where was I? Oh, Napier, home of the kiwi 🥝

 Not this Kiwi 


but the delicious fruit. 



Kiwi 🥝 orchards look a lot like vineyards but with larger fruit. Two different varieties are shown here  The top one bears on second year vines that have grown up the strings the first year and then are lowered after the vines below have been harvested and removed. (How does one figure this out?)  The bottom variety grows on shoots from established vines the way I assume grapes do  At our house in Stamford we had two different hydrangeas, one bloomed on @new wood “ and the other on “old wood “.  Had to be careful with pruning. 

The kiwi farming area has deep volcanic soils that accept deep roots (like grapes have and want) so they can grow during various rainfall conditions and are protected from damaging winds by strategically located hills.

The kiwi that we tasted during our visit were exceptionally sweet  Have to try them when we get back - they are harvested at less than 10 % sweetness and chilled and, we were told, gradually achieving maximum sweetness by the time they arrived by ship and train and truck at your local Market Basket or Publix  We shall see.


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