Kiwifruit Trivia

• Despite its size and fuzzy outer skin, the kiwifruit is actually a berry.
• In ancient times, Chinese khans considered kiwifruit to be an aphrodisiac. So go ahead and indulge, but don’t blame us for the consequences…
• Kiwifruit is troubled by remarkable few irritants, so crops require very little in the way of pest control. In California, pickers wear cotton gloves to ensure the safety and quality of each kiwifruit.
• Kiwifruit was originally called the Chinese Gooseberry.
• Kiwifruit originated over 700 years ago in China. It was later introduced in New Zealand and California, where the first major planting occurred in 1960.
• The average kiwifruit is 3” long and weighs 2.5 o.z
• A high proportion of California kiwifruit – about 10% – is grown organically.
• Kiwifruit vines are deciduous. They go dormant at the first frost – usually in mid-to-late November in California. The foliage falls off, making it easier for pruners to do their work, and new leaves begin appearing in early March.
• All kiwifruit pruning is done by hand.
• Dormant kiwifruit canes are great for floral arrangements.
• Like grapes, kiwifruit grows on vine like shrubs, which are trained over pergola or T-bar trellises ranging from five-and-a-half to six feet in height.
• Just like people, kiwifruit vines drink for in the summer. In fact, they’re extremely thirsty, each vine averaging 41 gallons of water a day throughout the growing season!
• Kiwifruit is climacteric; the starch conversion to sugar increases after the fruit is picked, so it continues to ripen as it heads to market.