Here in California kiwis are in season and the farmer’s markets are filling up with bags of them at bargain prices. I just finished eating the one I painted this morning. I missed doing a kiwi piece six months back when the fruits were coming into season in the Antipodes. As many kiwis as we grow here in California, most people think about New Zealand when one thinks of kiwis.
Kiwis and kiwi kitsch are plentiful in New Zealand. I am proud to say I’ve climbed to the top of the 4-story high, giant slice of kiwi in Te Puke, New Zealand. Ironically, kiwis are not native to New Zealand. Originally the fruit was known as the Chinese Gooseberry in English. You can see why they came up with a better name for marketing purposes. And to make it all a bit more confusing, there is Kiwi, the flightless bird and Kiwi, the nickname for New Zealanders. Some prefer to use Kiwifruit, but mostly one just hears “kiwi” in New Zealand and understands the meaning by context. I can’t imagine a jam made from a fuzzy little flightless bird, yuck.
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