Biggest haul ever today! Roughly 25#
That fig is very similar to the Portuguese variety Sofeno Preto. Do you have a leaf picture?
Here’s a few photos of a friend that has located a Sofeno Preto tree.
Nice fig, Drew.
It seems to be similar to Black Madeira/Preto/Violeta. Do you have any of these to compare?
How many figs do you grow Jsacadura? Sofeno Preto looks great, I love the blueish hue it has to it.
It took a few days, but I’ve now got some samples. I thought they were pretty good, but am still not a huge fig fan. My wife, who even likes figs from the store, liked them a lot. She also said that they were better than my Hardy Chicago (first ripened a day or so ago). Though she did say that the HC was better than the ones from the store, which have a bit of off flavor (maybe picked too early, unlike the HC, which I think I got right).
They are definitely bigger than my Hardy Chicago. Moister too, though the last day of rain probably helped that.
It looks like they have a pretty open eye- I’m not sure if he runs into issues because of it.
Anyone have any ideas about what the variety is? I spoke to my friend and he said that his father and the fig both came from Minturno, which is in between Rome and Naples on the West coast of Italy.
I asked if there was a lot more fruit hanging, and was told that there was, but that it may not ripen. When I mentioned the tip that other forum-members passed along recently (cut off leaves which shade the fruit to get sun exposure and speed ripening), my friend laughed and said that his father was cutting the tops off the other day, saying that the fruit “needed to see.” I think it is neat when old wisdom matches up to modern strategies.
Nice looking fig Bob, the large eye may not be an issue out in the dry western states but down my way in the humid south large open eyes = souring
Great haul. I’m afraid I’d be gorging myself with figs if I had a haul like that.
25 pounds of figs? Wow! They look absolutely delicious.
I imagine you eat quite a lot fresh, but what do you like to do with the others? Dry them? Make fig jams and preserves? Sell them at a farmer’s market?
Jsacadura,
Those look great and very similar. I am sure Colonel Littman’s Black Cross is not it original name. and it does seem very similar to some Portuguese figs so possible that was it’s origin. You have some great figs over there. It was offered by Just Fruits and Exotics, but presently is not listed there. Here is the history they used to have posted:
“Colonel Littman’s Black Cross Fig – Local Find!
We got the cuttings for this very tasty black fig from Colonel Littman’s
tree in Gainesville, Florida. Colonel Littman originally got his starts
from Mr. Cross in Tallahassee Florida, so Colonel Littman called the
fig “Black Cross.” We don’t know its true origins but we do know it’s
not a Mission, Black Jack, Petite Negri or Violette de Bordeaux as this
fig’s skin is a different color. Fruit ripens August Zones 8B-10”
I don’t know if they plan on offering again. I heard they sold their
mother tree I would have thought JF&E would have kept a plant so maybe
available again at some point but I don’t know. Here is a couple foliage pics from earlier this season or last and a couple other fruit pics from this season I have 9/11/2016 recorded as 1st fruit from this year
At the risk of sounding like a broken record… I’d say that is another Etna type. They do split and sour occasionally, and figs on older trees near the tips tend to be much larger, up to about 50 grams. While figs on young trees or fast growing suckers near the ground tend to be elongated and much smaller. The leaves look just right, sword shaped and “fuzzy”.
That has happened a few times this year already, I am almost sick of figs!
I’ve been mostly dehydrating and freezing them this year, 10# is just finishing up now. Also made a quick batch of freezer jam last night, will dehydrate the rest today.
I’m a novice at growing figs but I already know I don’t like the open end. The bugs march in.
The leaves seem similar, so it could well be the same fig. Thanks for the info and photos. It’s a keeper for sure.
The photos are not mine. They are from a friend that lives in Algarve and managed to locate the tree and take some photos of this variety. They have lots of wonderful fig varieties in the South of the country but, unfortunately, the old farmers are dying and the trees are cut down, so these varieties are becoming a rarity and probably some are already extinct.
I’m trying to locate as many as i can, to preserve this heritage, so overlooked. That’s the problem with something being so common as figs over here. People don’t think twice in removing old figs trees, and replacing it with citrus trees or whatever the markets demand at the time, sometimes not knowing it’s the last tree of some rare variety.
I am also collecting varieties from other countries and evaluating them in my location (not all will adapt well due to the high humidity of this area).
At present i have about 40 Portuguese varieties in evaluation and some 60+ from other countries ( they are all still very young trees so it will take some time)
Now that I’ve trapped the thieving opposums, I can actually enjoy some of my fruits!
@hoosierbanana, are those Adriatic JH in ground? My in ground plant didn’t set fruit anywhere near early enough to ripen. Might try a few at my work orchard, though.
@ampersand Yes it is a 2nd year tree and was even killed all the way to the ground its first winter!
I’ve been gone a week and came back to a lot of rip figs. Only one split, the rest looked like they been hanging forever. it’s been wet, and cold too, not freezing yet. Anyway Here are some I picked. Not the best photo, The little ones are Unknown Teramo. They are usually amber, guess I was picking early! Deep red today! The taste was like a fig newton, very figgy, intense. As were all, in far from ideal conditions. At 1-2 O’clock are 2 Craven’s Craving.It looks like I’ll only get 4 if I don’t bring it in. Wow, these are excellent. Different, I assume like other Portuguese figs such as Black Madiera. At 3 O’clock is an improved Brown Turkey from a specific tree in Texas ( Daisy’s “Cornilio” unknown Brown Turkey). Completely different tasting than the others. Citrus, or spicy like. Not bad, not my favorite, although I would eat them! On the left, I think it’s a Mt Etna type, i just grabbed it, it was ripe, forgot to look what plant? It was the sweetest and really good. Mt Etna types just work well here. I have heard end of the year figs are not the best but man these were all good! I think because they all hung for a long time. Either my tastes are developing or these trees are producing better and better figs. These were the best of the year.
Very nice looking figs. Being really ripe and even shriveled is the way I like them. That can be hard to do in humid and wet conditions. Maybe the cold allowed them to really ripen without spoiling.
Well done my friend…!!
Yes, I think so, as you mention, in the summer I can’t let them get that ripe. Some plants lost figs in the cold, or ripened prematurely, so not possible with all.
I didn’t expect to harvest any figs when I came back, I thought they would be spoiled, blown open etc. I have to leave tomorrow again for 2 weeks.Working for myself this time doing some repairs to my cottage. Maybe a few more will be waiting for my return? If the weather holds out!
I’m really rooting for this little guy. It popped up later in the year on this Valle Calda (possibly Valle Negra) from @hoosierbanana and I thought it had no chance of ripening. After removing some leaves so it could “see”, the top browned up but the bottom is still very green. We don’t have a freeze in the forecast, and we still have hit 80s a couple days with nights in the 50s, so I have a lot of hope for it to be edible at some point.
