Such a busy 2 days that I almost missed what day it was....my Birthday yesterday...heheh...that means I don't need to count that one! Here are some more photos about picking kiwifruit...it all looks the same as every year so I don't always repeat the photos. It is very difficult trying to photograph pickers under the vines in dappled light ...everyone comes out splotchy. Each tractor tows a bin trailer with 3 bins on it.
The other photo shows stacked up bins of fruit waiting to be loaded onto a truck to go to the packhouse. Ours probably will be stored for a while ( still in these bins before it get packed into trays and boxes) in a coolstore as it keeps very well. When it gets packed I will show you some photos of what the packhouse looks like and the pallets of trays strapped up ready for shipping. Also a closeup of our grower# and the packs so you know what to look for if you are buying Zespri kiwifruit!
That's 3 days now without any sewing but I might sit with my feet up and hand quilt after dinner.
Happy birthday Ali!
ReplyDeleteLooks like hard work - are the branches of the trees trained over a frame to make the fruit easier to pick? (Looks a bit like that in the photo but I'm not sure). Belated Birthday Wishes. Fiona
ReplyDeleteMy goodness me Ali that looks very labour intensive - never seen them growing on the actual plants before - well I suppose getting them all in safe and sound was a pretty good birthday present - hope you had a very happy one :o)
ReplyDeleteThanks ladies, it certainly was the best thing to have it all picked.
ReplyDeleteYes Fiona you are right.The kiwifruit plants are trained up to a single stem when they are young, then grafted and the branches are then trained out above head height on a big pergola. Later on I will show you how we prune them and tie in new growth for next years crop.
Happy Birthday Ali! The fruit looks beautiful hanging from the branch. I never knew how it grew. Neat pictures! I only see 2 though, no grower number or label, am I missing it?
ReplyDeleteNo Deb, you haven't missed it. We haven't got to the packing into trays stage yet.....I'll make sure you have all the correct info to identify our fruit or at least find a grower # on a tray.
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday!
ReplyDeleteThe picking process looks fascinating, but hard work! Do the pickers have to worry about spideys or wasps as they reach up to pick?
Are the gloves to protect their hands or the fruit?
Hi Forest Jane, No there are not any pests to worry about. You may grab the odd fruit that is soft or partly not there cause the birds have hollowed it out, and the gloves are to protect the fruit as nails, jewellery etc can do damage. You have to wear them...one of the rules.( and for hygiene too ) We are lucky in NZ that we don't have any things to look out for like snakes or bears or poisonous creepies.
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