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farm to table Farm to Table Crazy for Kiwi Growing this tropical fruit is possible in Oregon written by Sophia McDonald photography by Anthony C. Castro 36 1859 OREGON’S MAGAZINE SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2018
farm to table Peter Dinsdale with his son, Ben, at Blue Heron Farm near Independence. The farm has 11 acres of kiwis. OREGON IS KNOWN for producing world-class berries from spring to early summer. But come September, a strangelooking variety briefly appears for about two weeks. They’re tan globes about the size of a grape. Each has a sweet-tart flavor and a smooth skin that’s entirely edible. Cut one open and the mystery is solved. The flesh of these tiny fruits is lime green and dotted with tiny black seeds. They’re known as kiwi berries, baby kiwi or hardy kiwi, and they’re kin to the fuzzy-skinned fruit commonly found in grocery stores. Oregon is the country’s top producer of this unusual fruit— which is to say there are a handful of farmers growing them on about 125 acres. Peter Dinsdale with Blue Heron Farm near Independence explains how this micro-industry came about. A berry farmer named Mark Hurst was interested in selling them through his wholesale business and was looking for partners willing to raise them. He’d already taken some to an international produce marketing conference and won rave reviews. “They were the sensation of the show,” Dinsdale said. “People really liked them and wanted more.” The fruit is tasty but it’s also quite healthy, packing a punch of vitamin C, folate, potassium and other nutrients. Combine that with their intriguing appearance, and it’s no wonder people were interested. Dinsdale, who was already growing a variety of berries on his farm, decided to give kiwis a go. In many ways, they were a good fit with his other crops. They could be pruned right after the blueberries in the winter and harvested in September after all the blackberries had ripened. That would allow him to keep his staff onboard and busy for a longer period of time. In 1994, he planted 11 acres of thick-stalked kiwi berry plants between trellises with stakes the diameter of telephone poles (the vines that shoot up from the trunks are so strong they can pull down a structure that’s poorly built). In 1995, he dug up all the plants, fumigated the soil to rid it of a fungal disease that could kill the kiwis, and replanted. This inauspicious beginning hinted at more challenges to come. Pollinating the vines proved difficult. Dinsdale’s son, Ben, has taken to traipsing under the trellises every year in what he calls a “bee suit”—a modified snow blower that shoots pollen over the vines and gives nature a leg up. Although the kiwis are a cold-tolerant variety from Siberia, they’re very susceptible to frost after SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2018 1859 OREGON’S MAGAZINE 37
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