I had no idea I have pollinators (although it’s possible since I’m in California), but my Desert King produces three crops a year.
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Either your Desert King is mislabeled or you have the wasp. I didn’t think they were as far north as you have listed in your profile, but I guess so!
I don’t have any photos to show, but the figs on my tree look exactly like Desert King should be, based on pictures online (e.g. figs4fun.com). It’s also mentioned on figs4fun.com that Desert King “commonly matures good fruit without caprification near the coast.” I’m not that close to the coast, but maybe this effect extends inland a little bit more than previously known. The tree seems to take well our hot summer weather.
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Hey Kelby. Maybe my Chicago Hardy is not really Chicago hardy. It is putting out what appears to be tiny breba figs at nearly every node. The leaves haven’t even unfurled and this thing is covered in brebas.
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They might fall off, but maybe you’ll get a good crop!
Ampersand,
What category does Italian Honey fig fall into?
The lower left pot is unknown (probably Chicago Hardy) and the upper right is Italian Honey. Both carry the little undeveloped figs from last year and newly pops out “bulbs”. I’m in zone5, Chicago.
Do you think they have chance of maturing during this summer/fall?
From what I’ve seen there are multiple varieties under the “Italian Honey” name, but generally they are biferous, so you should get a good crop of brebas as well as main crop! I have a Lattarula (synonymous with Italian Honey) that is a favorite of mine.
Ampersand,
I’m planning to put the “Chicago Hardy” (the lower left pot) into ground permanently this spring and use a cut out plastic garbage can for winter protection from now on. I received this small rooted plant last year from a friend that has grown his plant in-ground for decades in Chicago with some protection.
I think if he can keep it for that long, I should be able to replicate at least its survivability. Proper canes protection probably would provide some fruiting, I hoped?
Tom
Yup, plus Hardy Chicago can fruit even if it dies to the ground.
1,000 figs??? What do you do with all those?
Even with a large family and lots of friends, it was a lot of figs in a relatively short time window, especially since all the grapes and a mature peach tree were ready at the same time. None of them have much storage life.
We ate many of them fresh. Shared some. Used some in cooking, and dried many. I also make a tasty fig jam with our honey, figs, bearss limes, and pectin. It’s really good on crackers with goat cheese.
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I want to get on the grapes list.
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That could go with just about any fruit. It’s what I do I would add freezing. I love drying spices and peppers, so anything I can dry I usually do!
You’ve got it, Ray. It’s still very early, but right now it looks like the grapes are on a mission to out produce themselves. Plums and cherries, OTOH, look like they’ll be having a poor production year.
Drew, I’m not sure how well figs would take to freezing and defrosting, unless the goal was to turn them to jam at a later date. The BT are thin skinned and are very enjoyable dried at a low temp. Higher drying temperatures change their taste by giving them molasses notes. Some may enjoy or prefer that. I prefer the results of slower drying at lower temperatures, and stopping before they become overly dry. I do store the dried ones in the freezer, though.
I’m not sure either? I keep thinking fig scones, fig newtons (I found a recipe), Dried is better for figs for sure. I just mentioned it as you mentioned just about every possible thing you can do with (any) fruit.
I dry figs and freeze them. Then they are defrosted and fine. Yum!
Yeah. Doing close to everything possible is what happens when there is an overabundance, but short window of opportunity. We haven’t fermented them! Some of us have been too protective of the crop to let that happen, but it’s one way to use up a large volume of fruit at one time.
LOL, I never have anything yet, but yeah good one! Oh I have fermented tomato seeds! I have a few fermenting recipes I’ll try one day. I think for vegetables.
Yeah I’m adjusting what I grow to fit my needs, although to have problems like too many figs, I would like to at least once have that problem!
You guys make me hungry for some fresh sweet figs. I guess I have to wait for fall season to harvest them.
Tony
I took a closer look at all my figs today. Even potted up most of them into gallon grow bags. I noticed that all my figs seem to have fared just fine this winter in my unheated garage except for Brunswick. I have 5 potted and None of them may have made it. I’ll wait to see if they start growing near the roots but it doesn’t look good right now.
Is Brunswick less cold hardy? My other varieties are Chicago a Hardy, Strawberry Verte, Desert King, LSU Purple, and Petite Negrone.