Unfortunately, Massachusetts does not allow you to catch and release or I would have been rounding up bunnies and squirrels all summer long. If you trap something, you either have to deep six it or release it on your property. My problem is just that I need to keep the squirrels that are walking along the fence from taking the turn onto the cross beam of the supports. I'm wondering if I can either build something to obstruct them or wrap the crossbeams in something to deter them...maybe barbed wire or something that effect. Just not sure how cagey squirrels are about avoiding small pointy things where they walk.

MHG, I've read that hardy kiwi are from northern China and Japan. I'm not sure, but I think the climate would be a lot like ours in the north east. JD, I'm definitely not an expert- just getting started with them. I was able to propagate some from cuttings last June (I've read dormant cuttings don't work well). Now, a year and a half later, they look about like what you would get from a nursery. Rather than starting from cuttings, I'd suggest getting some nursery plants- Rolling River Nursery is a great source. Later, let me know if you want some scionwood to graft some more varieties. Scott, I've had lots of bad ones, but none were ripe enough. From the nursery descriptions, they were all supposed to ripen earlier than mid-October. Some of them I've been sampling 1-2 per week since the start of September. When did you pick yours? If you picked them earlier, even a wrinkled surface may not have been enough to make them taste good. You've got me looking forward to Ken's Red, though it is taking it's time. How much different are the kiwi you grow from the ones in the store? I like the hardy kiwi a lot better than the store-bought fuzzies, even before considering that I don't need to peel them. But, if home-grown fuzzies are great, I should at least give them a try. Here's a pic of what they look like when I eat them. I think the wrinkles is what made some people hesitant to try them...Most of these were 21-23 brix, with one at 24 and one of the smallest ones at 14 (not sure what happened with it). Note- none of these are the biggest- I've already finished most of them :)

You can definitely grow kiwis in Portland. I live in NoPo and planted two kiwi plants about 15 years ago. They grew quite vigorously. However, I got no fruit. A friend was cutting back her male at the time it was flowering, and I took some cuttings and simply dragged the flowers over the flowers on my kiwis, and - voila! - that fall I had a bunch of kiwi fruit. So - the Hayward kiwis that I bought from Freddies were not one female and one male, but were both females. I bought another - very scrawny - male from Portland Nursery, and have had lots and lots of fruit. I have a 16 foot tall by 5 foot wide trellis/arbor that I built on the south side of my garage. The kiwi took that over with-in a couple of years. Now they have taken over the garage roof and the neighbor's trees. Good luck!

This time of yr freeze injury is the likely cause. New growth on kiwi is very sensitive to freezing. Just a small difference in temperature can be the difference between green and black leaves. Check the stems. If still green to the scratch test it was probably a freeze. The plant should grow back soon. If the stem and roots are dead it wasn't a freeze but some other issue like poor drainage.