Fuzzless kiwi
No need to peel these sweet treats
This isn’t your grocery-store variety of fuzzy fruit. Instead of peeling ‘Issai’ hardy kiwi (Actinidia arguta), you pop the smooth-skinned nugget into your mouth for a taste that’s sweeter than the store-bought kind. The plant survives down to subzero temperatures and produces an abundance of fruit in spring. Unlike other hardy kiwi, ‘Issai’ doesn’t need a male plant to pollinate it.
Set the vine out whenever the soil is workable. Choose a sunny location that is protected from wind and has well-drained soil; water and fertilize regularly. Train the 20- to 30-foot-long twining growth on a fence or arbor, or grow it on a trellis in a large pot and trim the vine periodically.
Harvest fruit while they’re still firm in early fall. Test a few for ripeness by softening them in a paper bag and then tasting them. If the fruit isn’t sweet, wait a couple of weeks before picking more. Harvest all of them before the first frost and store hard fruit in airtight bags in the refrigerator.
