I still have tons of figs on my Chicago Hardy and Olympia fig trees. But they don’t seem to be ripening. Do they just ripen during a ‘window’ of optimum sunshine - and then the rest just never mature?
They seemed to ripen just one or two at a time . . . and then they stopped. ???
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A very nice cucumber that I picked 2 weeks ago, still very fresh. Amazing how long vegetables last from the garden.
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@PomGranny … my CH Fig is 3 yr old now…
This year it ripened first figs on 8-20… and they have ripened pretty steady just a few at a time since then. Most I got in one evening so far is 8… but often get 3 4 5 6… perhaps not every evening but most evenings.
I have had a week or so of down time after dry spell then a 3 or 4 day flood… that caused many to split that were ripening. But after a week of better weather they got right back to ripening just a few each day… got 5 yesterday and 3 today.
It did the same last year… and continued to ripen figs… just a few at a time… but picked the pace up some near the end. We got our last ripe figs and raspberries last year on Dec 3. We got a very light frost or two b4 that… but got a heavy frost on Dec 3 that ended them.
Over 3 months of steady fig ripening…
Awesome fruit !!
Mine is in a nice microclimate location… gets sun all day… just off a tall brick wall south side of our home and the ground there slopes to the south quite a bit. This year I let 10 shoots go up… but I had to steak and pull out from center several of those shoots so they could all get sufficient sunshine.
Notice I have it planted in a raised mound… and may be hard to see. But I have the top of that mound covered in dark colored river rock… some large flat rocks… to help it bring in more heat. There is pine bark mulch in place too.
Notice how I put steaks in place and pulled several of those shoots out from the center.
Next year I may try limiting it to 8 shoots.
Hope this helps
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Shared one of the Claygate Pearmain apples that came from a really little shrub that hope will grow into a tree. 15 Brix (he thought 16) on refractometer, wonderful jumble of flavors, sweetness & tart zip; juicy despite horrendous summer. Winner!
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Haven’t started using this year’s crop of saffron - it is still blooming. 23 blossoms open & cut today. 238 so far this year.
Also got a few Hunt Russet - hard as rocks & dry due to super summer. Two were damaged & sucking the li’l tree dry: 28 Brix in those. Not sure russeted apples will work on this exposed site.
Redfield came through in fine style: 14-18 Brix, nearly bloody red from skin to near the core. Made a pie - my wife made the pie - from Redfield only. Will update you soon!
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Maybe I should title this:
What DIDN’T you ever get to eat - that you grew?
We were away for the weekend and when I returned - I noticed that there were no ripened figs. I also noticed that several of my pomegranates - that I was hoping to pick at the beginning of this week - were GONE!
My brother-in-law lives on our property and told me that he saw 2 guys (who were tagging along with a guy who was building something for my husband) walk off with 2 big pomegranates.
Boy am I p_ _ _ _d! Almost all of our trees that bore fruit had only 2 or 3 promising fruit - that I’ve ‘babied along’ for months and months . . . and I didn’t plan to share them with the ‘two-footed wildlife’ around here!
It’s one thing if an animal steals the fruit. Another when a person ‘who behaves like an animal’ does!
Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. You Don’t Mess With Pomgranny. 
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@PomGranny … that really does stink.
Think I would reconsider who does that building job…
Good luck with that.
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Pulled 2 great little Chicago Hardys off yesterday. Not big enough to split - just about 1 ¼" maybe - across. But they were so good. Better than the first gigantic ones earlier in the summer.
Figs are fun . . . but definitely not my favorite! I think the peaches & nects and the apples are my favorites to harvest so far! Even more than the pomegranates! It’s just kind of a miracle to go out and pull your own nectarine off your very own tree! I’m looking forward to real pears in a year or two, too!
Oh. And the stink bugs are ‘goin to it’ on the figs. Especially the CH. What do you do about those? Do you have them in Tenn?
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@PomGranny — I make the stink bugs, ants, bees, wasp, hornets… very frustrated…
They can get close enough to see it, smell it, but not get their grubby teeth into it…
When mine first size up, color up, I put on a Tightly Tied 4x6 organza bag… That has worked very well for me this year. Once they are ripe, they are very clean and nice figs… perfect.
I have one in my hand in that pic… and the figs sitting on it… and if you look in the background you can see a few figs on the tree bagged.
You have to really try and practice to get to where you can tie them on tight enough to keep even those tiny ants out… but it can be done. I got lots of practice at that earlier this year when protecting my blackberries from SWD.
The last two years, FIGS have moved way up my list of Fav Fruits. Love em. My wife does too… it is our favorite after dinner treat for months each late summer, fall. Going to add another soon, possibly next spring. A Smith… I think.
PS… I am bagging and harvesting figs up around the 8-9 ft high range now… step ladder.
TNHunter
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Cherry tomatoes.
Yea! Six years . . . but you finally got some! We have a Shenandoah . . . . but no fruit yet. We see PawPaws in the wild around here . . . but they are rather crummy and little.
I bought my husband 2 new varieties - and this time I think I’ll plant them near the bank of the pond that is on our property. The ones I put in the field aren’t doing so well.
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Blackberries, I picked about 6 large ones.
Your artist brush will come in handy when it is time to cross pollinate pawpaw flowers.
My Shenandoah flowered since 2019 but I did not get the timing to cross pollinate flowers correctly (before they turned from female to male). I got a timing right this year. I got pollen from a generous forum member.
If your new trees are large trees, they may flowers sooner. Mine were not quite 2 ft trees when I bought them.
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If you put the new pawpaw plantings in an open field, get a grow tube. They are natural understory trees and benefit from shade before they get big.
If you want to advance fruiting time of your Shenandoah, take some scion and graft it to the mature wild pawpaws. You’ll often get fruit the year after grafting if you are only top working.
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not something i grew but bought a jar of honeyberry jam from a local farm stand. theyre grown 20 miles from me. was pretty good but still doesnt beat b. currant jam. id see a mix of the 2 being very good.
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Since writing last I opened a Hunt Russet apple: undamaged by insects and only 12 days after picking it offered 18 Brix, more juice than expected ('tho not as juicy as Bardsey or Claygate) and only hints of the tangerine & rose that command attention in some years. The remaining two samples will have to wait in order to find how Hunt Russet stores & morphs over time. Much encouraged.
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Enjoying Kieffer pears today and there are lots of them. They are very good this year. Some years I cannot tolerate Kieffer if they are to gritty. Typically at my location grit is not an issue. Had an old fashioned pear that came with the property that was very old and very gritty . That pear had to be removed when I did dirt work at the pond.
My son planted Charleston Gray watermelon sometime in July, I think mid-July. I told him it was too late but let him keep that and the other things he planted. We had a late frost this year. One frost so far, I think it was earlier this week. I doused that with the hose before sunrise just the same as I doused my other plants. Still, half the vine died. Today I picked it. WOW. I think it’s better than my Orangeglo was and this Charleston Gray doesn’t appear to be fully ripe yet.