Yes, you can grow kiwi berries in Oregon; here’s what you need to know (2024)

First, a quick (just one question) multiple-choice test.

Q: Kiwi berries are:

A) One of those wonder foods, higher in potassium than a banana, with more vitamin C than an orange and rich in antioxidants and fiber.

B) A close relative of kiwis, but not the least bit fuzzy.

C) Something anyone can grow here.

D) The subject of this column.

E) All of the above and then some.

We think you know the answer. Kiwi berries are amazing (and tasty) and can be easily grown in the Pacific Northwest.

While they're the subject of this week's writing, the column will, unusual for us, touch on several things non-gardening as well, such as religious persecution, the Iran hostage crisis, the advent of color copiers and an amazing force of nature named Farah Ramchandani, who owns Nine Star Ranch in Wilsonville with her husband, Tulsi.

And to think, the idea for this column all started with some crunchy rice.

We were at a winter solstice party hosted by Dave Leckey, owner of the must-see Oregon Small Trees nursery (you can read our column on it at bit.ly/peckssmalltrees), when I heard people raving about a dish someone had brought to the gathering.

It included delicious, crusty dark brown rice and was called, from what I recall, crunchy rice, a dish popular in Iran, where it's called tahdig.

When I asked who had made it, I was pointed in the direction of an energetic woman who was holding court with a group of fascinated party-goers.

And I was told her name was Farah.

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In talking with her that night, we discovered she had a large farm — one of the very largest organic operations of its kind in the country — growing kiwi berries and we agreed it would make a fine Homes & Gardens subject in the fall, during the six-week stretch they are fully ripened and ready to be consumed.

When we caught up with Farah and Tulsi in August at their 40-acre ranch, Farah spoke as much about her faith — Bahá'í — and how persecution pushed her family out of Iran well before the revolution, and her engineer brother Mohi Sobhani, one of three American non-embassy hostages taken by Iranians in 1979, not long after the revolution led by Ayatollah Khomeini, as she did about kiwi berries.

And MIT-educated Tulsi, who led the Xerox team that came up with the color copier, a development which led them eventually to Wilsonville (he calls Oregon a "cold Hawaii"), admitted he had one idea in mind when buying the sprawling property.

"It was to keep Farah busy," he said.

And, as she drove us around her 12-acre kiwi berry orchard in her John Deere Gator, talking about kiwi berries and Bahá'í and her late brother, it seems he has succeeded.

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I thought I was going to learn about kiwi berries from Farah Ramchandani for this column and I did, but I also learned a bittersweet lesson about freedom and love.

After she gave us a tour of her beloved kiwi berry orchard and filled our heads with kiwi berry facts, she filled us with delicious crispy rice and unfolded her life story.

At the tender age of 5, living in Tehran at the time of the Shah, she recalled defending her father, who was being assaulted by a Muslim mob for practicing his Bahá'í faith. Seeing her father bloodied and surrounded and knowing he would soon be killed, she says she stood between her father and the crowd with her little body and ran at the mob, yelling "You will not kill my father," over and over again. He was spared through fate that day and when the opportunity arose, the family gratefully emigrated to the United States, to become citizens and become free.

Unfortunately, many in her extended family did not make it out and did not survive the oppression.

Years later, her brother, in a twist of fate, was taken hostage at the same time as 50 U.S. embassy employees while visiting Iran on business.

Farah again took action, but this time as a young woman. She tirelessly contacted the press, government agencies, lawyers, and anyone who would listen. She even jogged, barefoot, next to California Sen. Alan Cranston, whom she happened to see running past her house one morning. Farah caught up with him and asked if she could join him. He said yes, looked down and asked, "won't that be hard on your feet?" She then told him of her brother's situation and from there it became national news.

After being imprisoned and tortured, Farah's brother was finally released, but was told he, his wife and young daughter could not leave the country. They eventually escaped, Farah said, on a motorcycle, riding through the desert to neighboring Afghanistan.

I'm not surprised Farah and her brother are related. Their courage seems born out of love and adversity.

Farah has found her place in our world, with a loving husband and children, at a beautiful ranch in Wilsonville with 12 acres of kiwi berries.

I'm sure her 5-year-old self would be amazed at how it all turned out. I know I am!

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When Farah and Tulsi moved to the farm, all of the kiwi berries were being shipped to Japan. By their third year, they decided America needed to know about kiwi berries and that, to quote Farah, "the fruit was staying here."

Since Farah's degree is in public health, she decided to grow her kiwi berries organically, choosing to grow them more healthfully over making more money.

Tips for kiwi berries are similar to kiwi fruit. Use these tips for either and enjoy!

1. Kiwi berries are the same genus as the larger kiwi fruit that is more familiar to most of us. The genus, actinidia, has around 60 species, one of which is arguta, kiwi berry.

2. Kiwi berries are about the size of a grape, are smooth-skinned, green with a red blush, sweeter than kiwi fruit with a more intense flavor and don't need to be peeled.

3. Native to Japan, the Koreas, China and Russia, they were brought to the U.S. via New Zealand.

4. Though kiwi berry doesn't show any sign of being invasive here in the Pacific Northwest, there is some indication it may be invasive in the Northeast United States.

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5. Kiwi berries need a male and female plant to produce fruit. Plant one male vine for every one to five female vines. There is a self-fertile variety, 'Issai,' which Farah said is not very tasty.

6. Kiwi berries are deciduous, do well in cold weather and full sun and need lots of water in the summer. They need well-drained, acidic soil to prevent root rot. Water for three days in a row, then take two days off. To prevent mildew, don't spray water on the foliage. If need be, use neem oil to prevent powdery mildew when the plant is not bearing fruit.

7. Fertilize in February, March and April. Farah uses 8-5-5, OMRI-certified, Nature Safe fertilizer, or you can find similar fertilizers at your local nursery.

8. Kiwi berry is a fast-growing, horizontal-climbing vine and needs a strong supporting structure with plenty of room. Build your arbor using 4x4 posts, 6-feet tall with a grid of heavy wire or 2x4s across the top. Each vine needs about 8x8 feet of space.

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9. There are several good varieties, but Farah recommends 'Anna' for its ease of growing and great taste.

10. There is just a six-week window when kiwi berries are ripe, usually from the second week in September to the fourth week in October.

11. How do you tell when a kiwi berry is ripe? Cut it in half and if the seeds are black, it's ready. If they are green, it's not ripe.

12. Prune in November or December. Production of fruit declines as each cane ages. Remove the old canes that have produced a lot of fruit all the way to the trunk. Leave the new canes to produce next year's fruit.

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Nine Star Ranch in Wilsonville, 34515 SW Ladd Hill Road, will open for U-pick of kiwi berries 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Oct. 19-20.

The ranch currently has male and female kiwi berry plants for sale. Anyone interested can contact the ranch at ninestarranch@gmail.com. One Green World in Portland also sells the plants.

Marcia Westcott Peck is a landscape designer (mwplandscape.com or find her on Instagram at @pecklandscape), and Dennis Peck is a senior editor at The Oregonian/OregonLive.

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