Thursday, August 25, 2011

When is the best time to harvest hardy kiwis?


Apparently not during the month of September as stated in the nursery's company catalog and also from where we purchased green and purple-skinned kiwi vines. The kiwis that I'm referring to are the impossibly cute miniature ones. They're the size of grapes, fuzzless, and entirely edible. I've seen the green type at a supermarket here in Lecco, and that was only once, so to find plants at Ingegnoli in Milan was a surprise - we just had to get both.

Getting back to harvesting them... When we purchased the green vine it already had several full-grown kiwis on it so I figured just wait until September. But earlier this week I noticed one that had gone rather soft so I picked it and voila! An intensely sweet delight that now posed a problem - are they ready or not? My garden sense told me that if they're sold at the markets hard as rocks, then the same must apply to these minis. A few days at room temp would do its ripening magic. Still, I wanted someone in-the-know to confirm this theory and found my answer in an article on Sunset Magazine's website. Yes they can be picked while still firm, but it's all a matter of timing for home gardeners like myself.

Link: www.sunset.com/garden/fruits-veggies/fuzzless-kiwi

Average daytime temperature: 30°C / 86°F

2 comments:

K and S said...

ooh nice! kiwi gelato, kiwi jam....mmm!

Rowena said...

Kat - I hope to get to that point in a few years. I believe these plants are only 2 years old...still a bit young. Crossing fingers that they survive our winters!