A Measure Of Success - Hardy Kiwis

Day 357: Sometimes even small successes are cause for celebration. Yes, my horticultural efforts finally resulted in a micro-harvest of hardy kiwis, and I think the key to ripening them on the vine was a night just short of a frost. They are roughly the size of raspberries, and eminently juicy and sweet, perhaps surpassing their larger cousins (at least those available in the grocery store) for flavour. The chipmunks nibbled a few while they were still hard, but for the most part, most of what hung on the vine through the heat of summer was undamaged. There are still some firm ones out there, almost as many as you see here...a small beginning, but proof nevertheless that my purportedly self-fertile vines ("Issai") actually do make fruit without a second variety to serve as a pollinator.