I bought some figs today at the Auckland farmers market in New Zealand and they were the largest I’ve ever seen. I asked the guy who is growing them what variety they are and he said they are “French Sweet”.
Though they are very juicy, I didn’t think they were particularly sweet. They remind me of an extra large, water down version of the LDA figs that I grow.
I asked our air b&b host about the figs and she said they reminded her of figs she used to pick as a kid in Italy. She also said that these are the first figs of the season to ripen and later in the season, there will be a dark purple one which is much sweeter, but smaller.
That sort of reminds me of a Maltese variety that gets huge, yet it’s definitely not the same variety. I think that I know what variety the B&B host is talking about, Italy has a variety nearly the same as the Maltese variety that I am talking about, yet I know almost nothing about the Italian variety other than it’s nearly the same as the Maltese variety, which is very little information.
Not necessarily. Breba crop is a crop off old wood specifically. Since its mid-summer there, this could easily just be the first fruit of the main crop. It still could be a breba, but it doesn’t have to be. “French Sweet” could also just be a marketing type of fig in New Zealand (like Fiji apple in the US) and they could be two different cultivars.
I did a search and one possibility is that the variety is called “French Sugar”, aka “Goutte d’Or”. Here is one source:
One inconsistency is that this source describes it as medium sized, but it’s not uncommon for brebas to be larger and less sweet, so maybe that’s what you got. As with many fig varieties, there will be some variation in how varieties are described by different sources, and descriptions could be different for brebas vs mains, so that looks like a place to start…?
Here is another source where the picture looks more similar to yours:
I could have easily misheard or mis-remembered. Maybe it was French Sugar.
My breba have varied. I remember at least one batch of them that was pretty good. Though many aren’t up to the same quality as the later main season ones. I always assumed it was weather related. Though it is much milder here, zone 11b/12a. I had assumed it would be better, but maybe it just makes them bigger…
I didn’t specifically ask, but if now is the equivalent of late July, they are probably but not certainly brebas.
I grew figs in S. CA for years and there were trees I harvested fruit from that were just unmanaged and possibly seedling trees. Brebas just tended to be inferior. Even when I’d go back to visit in mid-summer and buy them from a farmers market it tended to be the same deal.
Some have good or even excellent breba. Depends on the tree. Things like desert king for example are grown exclusively for the breba outside of fig wasp country.
I grew a very large fig in NorCal one year. It was the only fig on the Brown Turkey tree and I had sprinkled some sample Fox Farm marine fertilizer around that year. It was the best thing to ever come off that tree growing in a cool environment. Pretty dismal long term results, but it sure made a happy memory. I did use the leaves to make fig leaf ice cream too, so not all was lost and it was a beautiful shade tree.
Clearly people disagree what the flesh color of French Sugar is, what @BobVance bought fruit of did not have amber flesh nor does the following ‘Goutte D’or’, French Sugar is probably just a way to say what we call a sugar fig here in the USA, while stating that it originated from France, that would explain why the seller said French sweet.
‘Goutte D’or’ Fig Tree
”The ‘Goutte D’or’ fig tree is a compact, dual-cropping variety suitable for northern France. The flesh is salmon-pink and delicious.”
the breba crop can vary a lot in color from main crop. dont think its even pink enough to say its not salmon for sure they dont match up.
That being said youre probably not going to figure this one out beyond what she told you. Can ask for more info, I would guess its just French Sugar’s breba.
I totally agree, sometimes on the same tree, the same crop, the same year the figs flesh color, and it’s peel can vary from fig to fig. then there are different climates. And things like having the same exact variety right next to a heavily manured farmer’s field will have different looking figs from the same variety having little available nutrients to it. I am guessing that the figs that @BobVance is showing us, was probably grown by a farmer that planted it right next to his field, that could explain the huge figs too, much bigger than you’d think they’d be.
