TRAVELLING IN OKLAHOMA - HOEPFNER KIWI FARM

When in Oklahoma...

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On the way back from picking up the greenhouse gifted to us by @weetreebonsai, I noticed that @bluerthangreen and I were heading straight for Eufaula, Oklahoma. It sounded familiar and I quickly searched the corners of my mind for the reference point. Soon, I realized that the Hoepfner Kiwi Farm was located near there.

I'm not sure where I first heard of this place, but you can find out more about it here on the Oklahoma Agritourism site.

DOWN FOR THE DETOUR

Thankfully, @bluerthangreen is the type of homesteader that loves stuff like this too. To get a free tour of a six acre cold hardy kiwi farm was right up his alley too. Simple put, visiting places like this is inspirational, and shows you some of the things that are possible. To be a few minutes away instead of a few hours away just makes it that much better and easier!

Soon, we pulled in and were greeted by Mr. Hoepfner. As it turns out, his father started the farm and began growing the cold hardy kiwis because of health issues. He had been given about three years to live due to some heart issues and shortly after getting that bad news he came across an article in a magazine about all of the health benefits of the kiwi. He then started growing kiwis and lived another twenty years. I share a bit about some of those benefits in this video here, where I also demonstrate how to properly shave the large, fuzzy kiwis.

HOW TO PROPERLY SHAVE A KIWI

The cold hardy kiwis grown on this farm are a smaller, smooth variety, that almost look like green grapes when the produce their harvest. That means you do not need to shave this variety.

THE PLANTS

In the pot above that @bluerthangreen is looking at, you can see a thick vine growing up into the tree. These kiwis are grown on perennial vines that can actually produce fruit for up to fifty years. While the plants can be started from seed, most often people propagate them from cuttings.

This giant tangle of vines is a more mature plant. A few varieties are self-fruitful, but most kinds have both female and male plants which are needed for pollination. A fully mature female plant could potentially produce up to 200 pounds of fruit in a single year.

Here you can see another large vine growing up the shelter at the information center. If they are provided with solid support, the vines will continue to grow and produce in an upright position, rather than bushing out or sprawling across the ground.

Many people will also build arbors for them to grow over. Then, you can sit in the shade provided by the plant and even pluck fruit from overhead during the harvest. It would be wonderful to sit under one of these arbors on my own homestead one day, relaxing in some chairs with @mama-pepper in the shade that they provide. Time will tell, and we will have to see, but one can dream!

At this time of year, the plants were not exactly in their prime of the year, but we did not want to miss the opportunity. Both @bluerthangreen and @papa-pepper have some younger vines of these plants already started at home, so we wanted to observe some more mature plants in person. Depending on the time of year, they may have soap, plants, or the fresh harvest for sale! If you are ever in the area, I'd recommend stopping in for some free fun and education, no matter what time of year it is.

HOEPFNER KIWI FARM VIDEO

Here is a video from YouTube of the farm being toured earlier in the year. This will provide you with a better understanding of what the vines look like when they are green and growing.

As always, I'm @papa-pepper and here's the proof:

proof-of-hoepfner-kiwi-farm

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Until next time…

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GIF provided by @orelmely

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