From everything I've read I'm surprised to hear that about the RdB...is it in a container or in ground?

Tonight I got to try my first Angelos Dark...





It was delicious! It reminded me of a very sweet VdB. I can't wait to have a few more of these!

The Angelos Dark looks nice, keep us updated on the rest.

Some diary from front to back. Good stuff. The greenhouse looks great.

We also had some of our improved celestes get knocked off by the wind. They werent perfectly ripe yet, so they were pretty bland. They are a good size and very pretty though!



We finally finished the patio as well! So now I need to figure out if I want to make a potted fig orchard on the hill to the right, or space the fig trees out around the outside of the patio.



For the floor of the greenhouse, I was thinking of using red brick, but Im beggining to think tge red color will contrast with the beige patio. Anyone have any thoughts?

That nice red brick patio and walkway looks so barren, it would look much better filled with fig plants.

Very nice brickwork.

What a night! Three different varieties ripe at once; Black Madeira, Violete de Bordeaux, and Improved Celeste.





We started with the improved celeste. It was nice with a slight honey flavor.

Then we had the Black Madeira. It had split again, but got farther in ripeness than the last. It could have still used a few days. But my god, it was heavenly! The flavor was sweet and more berry than a strawberry, if that makes any sense! My wife said her half was incredible as well.

We then had the VdB, which is normally one of our favorites. It was still very good, but eating anything after the Black Madeira is tough!

I need to figure out how to keep the black madeira from splitting. I can only imagine how good it will be!

A very fruitful night, heavenly is a great description, you are very generous to go halfsies with black madeira. As far as splitting, who knows, even some growers say that rain protection doesn't help, potted and protected from humidity, water control, etc..??? By the looks, the BM did not split that much. Congrats.

Another trio tonight!

Black Madeira on the left and two VdBs.







The first one we ate was the VdB to the right. It was wonderful. Nice and fruity with a smooth texture and very little crunch. Very sweet.

Next was the black madeira. The skin was super thick. The inside was very soft and syrupy, but it lacked flavor. It was still pretty sweet, but nowhere near the flavor of the last two BMs.

The third VdB wasnt as ripe, but was still good.

VdB wins tonight.

We also had a bunch of improved celestes. They were sweet, but watery without any flavor... maybe a slight honey taste.

The figs have been in full swing lately and the backyard is starting to come together.  I'm already at the point where I wish I had a bigger greenhouse and a larger yard for a fig orchard!





I was able to compare my Sal's G to my Billsfigs Sicilian...





They were extremely similar.  The Sicilian has a slight tartness to it that I don't really care for along with a slight blue tint to the fig.  It's a very pretty fig, but if it doesn't start to shape up, it may be gone after next year.  The Sal's needs to grow a bit more before final judgement.

And for comparison, here is a Billsfigs Sicilian vs Negronne:





And while we are on the topic, I really do not believe that Negronne and Violette de Bordeaux are the same thing.  They are extremely similar granted, but the flavor profile is slightly different and the growth patterns seem very different.  Negronne has been prolific with figs at every node and a bit small.  Very thin skin until it got a bit cooler and now a pretty tough thick skin.  VdB has had a thin skin throughout and larger figs on both small and large trees.   It is possible I just have a strange acting Negronne, but they just don't seem exactly the same to me.

The next fig we've been eating or at least trying is Alma. 





I had high hopes for this fig after the Alma Sisters thread, but it has been extremely disappointing.  I was hoping last year was a fluke, but they've been the exact same this year.  A rubbery skin and a mild bitter taste that has been pretty inedible for me.  Perhaps the 3yr old tree I have just doesn't like it's location or potting mix or something, but I just do not like it and if the next fig off it that I will let over ripen still tastes the same, it will be offered up to anyone willing to pick it up.

Ok now for some good news...

My best fig this year other than Black Madeira has actually been a huge surprise....





My conadria!  It was a good fig last year, but just couldn't hold it's own against Negronne.  This year it is absolutely stunning, especially for a green fig.  Again, the key is to let the figs get over ripe.  It has huge figs and an amazing sweet berry flavor with an apple tasking flavor to the skin.  Perhaps the change was that it ripened later after I left it out for a frost this spring, causing it to lose its leaves and ripen the main crop well over a month late.  Whatever happened, it worked out well in taste although the tree definitely did not grow much this year compared to last.  I sent out a ton of cuttings from this tree last fall, hopefully others can chime in with their results if they got figs this year.

My wife also sent me a couple of pictures while I'm on vacation of my Black Madeira that has its last two figs ripening...





The second pic she took this morning while it was still dark, showing the eye filled with honey and drip coming down the side.  These two are my first ones not to split and explode and I'm praying they hold on until I get back from travel tomorrow night!  I absolutely love the taste of Black Madeira and will be saving room for a few more of them.  My figo pretos have a ton of figs on them, but are still sitting in the dormant stage, waiting and waiting for them to turn even the slightest shade of purple.  I moved one to the greenhouse in hopes that it may help.

We also had some more goat cheese stuffed figs wrapped in prosciutto.  Sicilian, Negronne, and Black Madeira.  The negronne were the best ones.

I also had a question for those with greenhouses... I'm finding my plants are growing like crazy, but the figs so far haven't ripened.  Do you get them to ripen if they spend their entire lives in the greenhouse?  I know Tom (TMC) moves his into his greenhouse when they start to ripen.  I've also found the sunburn (hard brown spots) on the figs are pretty significant.

oh and I took a few airlayers off... Black Madeira, Genovese Nero, and RdB.  The RdB had the best roots after two months.  The other two had some roots, but not all that great, so we'll see if they make it.  They all wilted pretty badly and it looked like the Genovese perked back up, but the other two are still pretty unhappy.  I meant to take some pics of the root systems, but forgot to.

Good updates and photos, thanks Nick!

Out of curiosity, have you had Adriatic to compare to Conardia? Herman2 has said he doesn't understand why Condit released an inferior plant compared to it's parent.

And in regards to your greenhouse question: I recall reading one the Canadian growers (not Adriano) had a greenhouse with a roof that opens all the way because the figs don't ripen properly otherwise. Not sure what the reason for that is though...maybe the sun is too strong?

Kelby,  I have an Adriatic growing in the greenhouse.  It has figs in the dormant stage, but I haven't been able to try them yet.  What I've read on the Conadria, is that it is much more tolerant to cold, disease, rain, and spoilage.  I can tell you that these figs taste best well after normal ripening looks and texture.  If Adriatic is more prone to spoilage, you wouldn't be able to allow it to ripen as far.  After leaving mine out in a heavy frost/freeze this spring, it bounced back nicely with no die off.  I don't know if Adriatic would have fared so well.

I wonder if the poly of the greenhouse blocks the UV and if the figs need some of it to ripen?  I know last fall I put some of my figs in the old greenhouse in October and they continued to ripen, but perhaps that was because they had received whatever they needed from the sun for the first few months of their lives.

The figs look nice, the yard looks nice, and I really like your greenhouse. Congrats.

Well I finally got home yesterday and got to gorge myself on some figs!!!  Quite a few of our trees are ripening now, although the cold has reduced the quality for sure.  Our negronne has such thick skin on the figs at this point they are really not all that enjoyable.

The Ronde de Bordeaux are ripening quickly now...



The Black Madeira form an amazingly beautiful fig for sure...







We had a variety of figs to try...





The Neri2 all ripened while I was on vacation, but there was this one straggler left.  Not very prolific for such a large tree producing only about 10 figs.  It had a strong honey taste with a thick texture.  Not quite as good as I remember last year, but still pretty good.



The Alma again did not ripen correctly.  No idea what this tree's problem is, but sppsp is going to give it a try to see if it works out better for him next year.



The conadria was again delicious, although this was the smallest fig on the tree this year.  This tree seems to really slow down ripening when the cold gets here.



The Ronde de Bordeaux (RdB) was good, but I still don't understand the huge amount of praise it gets.  My wife likes it a lot, but not as much as VdB or Negronne.



Then there was the Black Madeira.  I love this fig.  It's such a pretty fig to look at and the flavor is outstanding.





With the cold spell we are having, these two ripened a bit differently than the earlier ones I had.  They had less "strength" in their flavor and there was more meat and less syrup.  Still absolutely delicious, but was much better earlier when it was hot out.  Still my best fig by far.  I'm waiting on my figo pretos to ripen now... one bush is in the greenhouse and two outside.  I'm hoping the warmth in the greenhouse will help them ripen better.

Thanks for the update, it's getting to be that time to get prepared for next year, especially for the northern growers.

I was able to pick a few figs tonight..

My RdB is putting out quite a few ripe figs...



















I put together a quick video of how they were...

figs 2014Sep23:

Nick, nice photos and video, love the RdB. Congrats and thanks.

Great pictures Johnny, nice setup!

Returned home today and got to try two varieties for the first time; Bronx White and Black Ischia.











Bronx White was a bit watery and kinda bland, but a very good size fig.

The Black Ischia has been in the greenhouse all summer and most of the figs on it are sun scorched, giving them a thick skin. There were two, the other was larger and more ripe and was delicious! Its flavor was somewhere between my negronne and black madeira. The one in the photo was good, but lacked the concentrated flavor another day or two would have brought.

I definitely need to figure out which figs get to stay in the greenhouse a bit longer...