Kiwi Vines

The Kiwi originated in China and arrived in the U.S. via Australia. It’s one of our more unusual fruits – brown, fuzzy skin with bright green flesh – possessing a unique tart-sweet flavor. The vines are vigorous, requiring a strong supporting structure.

These kiwis require a male and female plant in order to produce fruit.  The male is needed for pollenization and bears no fruit. It does, however, pollenize up to eight females. Vincent and Tomuri are very low chill varieties needing only about 100 hours of chilling. The Issai hardy kiwi differs in many respects from the other two. It is self-fruitful and the vine can be grown in Zones 5 to 9, withstanding much colder temperatures than Vincent and Tomuri. In addition, the fruits are much smaller and fuzzless. The hardy kiwi produces earlier, generally fruiting in its second year, whereas the larger fruited varieties usually need 4 years or more. Kiwi blossoms appear in the spring and the fruit is ready for harvest in the fall.

We are used to seeing the kiwi appear in a fruit salad, but there are more innovative uses for this tasty fruit. Kiwis can be grilled with fish on skewers, sautéed alongside chicken and can be the main ingredient in desserts. Here’s an idea for a kiwi-red snapper dish.

Kiwi-Snapper Grill

Prepare a marinade with:
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons dry sherry
2 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 chopped scallion
1 teaspoon chopped fresh ginger

Prepare snapper:

• Marinate 1 pound of red snapper for 30 minutes.
• Broil fish till flaky and golden brown on both sides.
• Dip slices from two or more kiwis in marinade and grill until just heated through.