LONG PROMO:   Oh, my goodness.  Would you take a look at these Kiwifruit.  Oh, come with me.  We are going to Chile, just south of Santiago, Chile, where they are growing some of the best Kiwifruit found anywhere on the face of the planet.  But there is a lot of work that goes into getting a good Kiwifruit.  I’ll show you all of that hard hard, from the soil, the irrigation, and even with the bees.  And, how in the world do you know when this Kiwifruit is ripe?  You know, it’s brown.  It stays brown.    Well, I’ll show you that next week with me, Michael Marks, Your Produce Man.

SHORT PROMO:  Come with me to the Chilean Kiwifruit Vineyards…next week with me, Michael Marks, Your Produce Man.
                                                                                                         
CHILE KIWIFRUIT - PRODUCTION (Monday, May 28):  Heh, when I first arrived to this Chilean Kiwifruit Vineyard, the first thing they said, get like this, and look right under here.  That’s when you can see all of these gorgeous Kiwifruit.   Take a look at this.  In fact, there is so much Kiwifruit here…these vines are so heavy, here’s what these growers have to do.  Three to four feet deep of this concrete pillar just to hold up the vines.  It didn’t always used to be like this in this vineyard.  In fact, this used to be a low production vineyard, but the Chilean growers are always learning something.  A couple of things they learned.  First, add something to the soil.  Calcium and Lime they have added into this soil and that has increased the production of food for these vines.  Second thing they did.  Right underneath here, about four feet deep, four inches in diameter…they put drainage.  Drainage pipe.  What they learned is that there was too much water sitting in the fields and that was affecting the root growth, and that affected the production of fruit.  I’m Michael Marks…Your Produce Man.

TEASE:  Heh, in my next Produce Man report, this is a really cool view.

CHILE KIWIFRUIT – BEES (Tuesday, May 29):  You know, there are a couple of things that the Chilean farmers have learned how to get good production from their Kiwifruit.  One, is the number of bees.  They have increased the number of beehives in November to about 20.  They only used to do five or six hives.  Now they have 20 hives in November, and that means much more pollination of the blossoms that are here.  And every blossom is a Kiwifruit.  So, you get more pollination, more Kiwifruit.  Another thing that they have done…oh, take a look at this.  You see, some of these young branches, vines have been cut.  And the reason they have done that, I don’t know if you can see, but there is a lot more sunlight coming through here.   They learned that if they reduce the number of young vines going through here, it increases the sunlight that comes through here.  That means better food production for these leaves.  You know what that means?  Better sugar content…and larger fruit, and boy, that’s a good thing.  I’m Michael Marks, Your Produce Man.

TEASE: Heh, in my next Produce Man report, how come these Chilean growers are cutting these young Kiwifruit vines?

CHILE KIWFRUIT – GIRDLING (Wednesday, May 30):  One million, two hundred and twenty two.  One million, two hundred and twenty three.  One million, two hundred and twenty four.  I’m counting the Kiwifruit.  A lot of Kiwifruit.  It didn’t always used to be like this. In fact, the Chilean Kiwifruit growers here have just about doubled the amount of Kiwifruit per acre.  They used to get a little over 10 tons per acre.   Now, a little over 20 tons per acre.  How have they doubled production?  One of the things they do…is called girdling.  Ladies, you know what girdles are?  It has nothing to do with that.  Let me show you right here.  They take a special tool, and on these older vines, they will cut just the outside layer of the vine.  Now, there are two things going on in this vine.  There are two layers.  One layer is sending water and food all the way out to the leaves, and all the way out to the fruit.  The second layer brings sugar back.  Well, we don’t want sugar to go back to the main vine.  No, no.  You want that sugar to stay right out there in the fruit.  So by girdling the vine, the sugar stays in the Kiwifruit.  I’m Michael Marks, Your Produce Man.  

TEASE: Heh, in my next Produce Man report, I’m going to explain what these girdles are all about.

CHILE KIWIFRUIT - HARVEST (Thursday, May 31):    You know, all week, we have been talking about all the things the Chilean farmers do in a vineyard like this, to get more Kiwifruit production.  There is a lot of Kiwifruit here.  But how in the world do they know when this Kiwifruit is ready for harvest?  They’re brown.  They stay brown.  They don’t changed color on the outside.  It’s the inside you look at.  So here’s what they do.  They take a Kiwifruit and cut one in half.  Oh, look at those seeds.  You can’t see them?  That’s right, because they are still white.  The seed color should be black.  You know what color the seeds are.  Take a look at the color of the fruit itself.  It’s still very pale green.  This is not ready for harvest.  They will also do what’s called a brix test.  There are brix in Kiwifruit.  Did you know that?  Brix is actually a term they use for “sugar content.”  They will also do what’s called a “dry matter” test.  They didn’t always use to do this.  But now…dry matter…it’s kind of like the fiber in it.  They have learned that the more fiber, the sweeter the Kiwifruit will become, and the better it tastes when ripe.  I’m Michael Marks, Your Produce Man.

TEASE:  Heh, in my next Produce Man report, how in the world do these Chilean growers know when to harvest their Kiwifruit?
  
CHILE KIWIFRUIT – LEAF CANOPY (Friday, June 1):  This is an absolutely gorgeous sight.  Oh my goodness.  This is the top of the Kiwifruit vines.  That’s right, I said vines.  This is a vineyard.  You know, trees grow in orchards.  Vines grow in vineyards.  These are vines, and that’s what Kiwifruit are.  So this is a beautiful vineyard.  This is called the leaf canopy of the vineyard.  It’s the top of the vineyard.  This leaf canopy is actually very important because this canopy actually protects the Kiwifruit from sunburn.  Also, the more leaves you have, the more leaf canopy you have, the more food production and the more protection from the sun on the fruit itself.  Another thing I want you to see.  Take a look out there.  Do you see some of those wild vines?  Some of the vines are very vigorous, very prolific.  Those are the male plants.  The guys.  The guys are showing off.  There is one male Kiwifruit for every nine females.  That’s not a bad percentage.  One-to-nine.  I’m Michael Marks, Your Produce Man. 

TEASE:  Heh, in my next Produce Man report, have you ever seen the leaf canopy…of Kiwifruit?

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