Dried Arctic Kiwis

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Last week I posted we probably completed our last harvest (the wild Rapini)...and I was wrong.

As we continued to clear land this week, Christine noted more Kiwis on the vines. These were very ripe and I would liken them to "late harvest" grapes. Fearlessly she decided to taste them and actually enjoyed these Kiwis as much as before. In their current state, they taste a bit more like very ripe gooseberries rather than the strawberry flavour they had earlier in the fall.

This gave me an idea. We picked as many as we could (some were still beyond our reach) and I placed them in the oven at a low (about 100 deg. C) temperature. The objective was to dry them and since we do not have a dehydrator (yet), the oven would have to do. After quite a few hours we achieved what I expected: dried Arctic Kiwis.

How do they taste? Fantastic. The result resembles a large raisin and the flavour is very much a cross between raisin and fig.

Next year, I am determined not to leave a single Kiwi on the vine. From fresh, to preserves, to dehydrated, this is a very good fruit.

I have not reported on the renovations to the house for a while. In the next couple of weeks, I hope to post some rather dramatic images of what has been accomplished to date.

On the other hand; we have not stopped our work and some days our farm has  looked like a serious construction site. One day this week I counted nine pickup trucks and a waste bin in our parking lot (luckily we can park over 20 cars next to the barn).

No sooner had we finished the roofing to the house, we started on the roofing for the barn. The barn is also difficult in its own way. In order to do this properly, the contractor had to tear down the corrugated metal and as well a layer of old cedar shingles (these were in very poor shape compared to those found on the house). Then on the century old large pine boards, a new frame is built atop some plastic sheets. It is to this new frame that we will be installing a new metal roof.

On the farming front, we continue to clear land. What was once a dump site, a mess of weeds, thorn bushes. elephant grass and small trees, is now almost ready to till.

We also have tilled a small plot for the family's food needs next year. In addition to our raised beds, we hope that this area will produce some of our larger crops including potatoes and squashes.

Of course, we continue to trim down thorn bushes and free some of the Kiwi vines.

In fact, for the first time, we have a very clear view of the creek that crosses the property to end at our Beaver pond and furthermore a clear view across the pond itself.

I leave you this week, with one final picture of proud Tristan. Now that we have a logo, he has his business card (he's officially our "Director of Operations") and of course his truck decals.