I wanted to re-pot 19 figs from cups-> 1 gallon pots today.  This meant I had to drive to the store to get some potting mix, I was fresh out.

Before leaving, I brought all my figs downstairs.  I noticed a Violette de Bordeaux (EL) sourced from a gracious f4f member had spiralling leaves, I assume due to FMV.  I planned to post a picture when I got done potting, but I had two HUGE finds on the way back home.

I was just crossing I-20 into SE Atlanta...and remembered at a plant swap recently, a girl roughly my age was wanting to know anything and everything about figs, and she in turn told me about an older tree next to a church nearby.  The church backs up to the interstate, I turned to go look...and sure enough, quite a large tree - I mean, it's medium sized, overall, but I don't often see trees get this big around here.  Most trees seem to be less than 10-15 years old.  I then turned down another street to get home...and I see this other huge fig tree bounding out of a backyard of equal size/height just two blocks away!

So, here are the pictures, with some notes.  The wood-fenced tree looks like a Brown Turkey to me.  Not sure about the one next to the church - it has two very different leaf types - one with very distinct 5-spatulate fingers, and the other one looks more like what's on all the Celeste trees around here.  I'm told it produces smallish purple fruit, which could indicate Celeste as well.  I'd ask the owners in both cases, but most people around here have no idea what they have....anything with a tan or brownish fig is "Brown Turkey" to everyone, it seems.

Blah blah blah, man I can talk... pics:

FMV leaf twist on a VdB (orig source: EL .... update: fig died 3 weeks later)




Fig next to church in SE Atlanta...produces breba crop, reported to have smallish purple fruit.  Note the two (possibly three) distinct leaf shapes - I'll never guess what this one is..... (It turned out to be Black Mission)

And this is a tree I stumbled across on my short drive home (12-14 blocks), it was literally 2 blocks due south of the last pictured fig.  That's a 6' tall privacy fence, for scale.  There are a LOT of Brown Turkey and Celeste in Atlanta, this looks just like my Brown Turkey, but looks can be deceiving.

Beautiful trees, Jason--thanks for giving us a look!

One more find - this is the 20'+ tall Blue Celeste I keep going on about near the Atlanta zoo.  Look closely at the picture - the pickup truck on the left is a light blue VW pickup...it's about 5' tall at the roof, for reference.

Owner offered up cuttings, said I can freely go by and take them.  The fruit is pretty good, but a child tree from this one against a south-facing wall nearby puts out better fruit.  I'm not a huuuuge fan of Celeste, but they're not that bad.

Jason, you continue to amaze me with all your "finds". As I go driving around I find myself looking into peoples side and back yards looking for figs trees. I have found a few but all of them have been Celeste. The only different one I've ever found is a Brunswick, which doesn't do well because of the rain in our area. Too much soured fruit to make it worthwhile. I love your pictures. "gene"

Jason..   Wow! Great photos of old, thriving trees.
  Keep up your "Daniel Boone" treks of finding these old treasures.  Fred

Ok, so .... (this tree here) ... I took a picture on my way home - my blackberry was fogged up from the rain, so the picture looks like crap.  This tree is probably 25'-30' wide or more (pretty sure it's only one tree?), but a little short.  I'm going to take cuttings of this one and plant it tomorrow because the property is abandoned and partialy run down and it has been for a couple of years at least. 

wow!  awesome pictures!  thanks for sharing jason!

Nice trees. Good luck with you VDB. My VDB cuttings looked the same as yours and only one ended up surviving. I hope you have better luck than me.

Thanks for the pics, these fig trees are amazing!

Today I stopped by the tree pictured in post #6 above.  It's actually two trees.  The tree on the left has trunks about as big around as my thighs.  The one on the right is huge, bigger around than I am (33" waist here, it was probably about 48" around).

I believe one or both is Celeste, it looks like it had a breba crop (birds got to one or two).  The tree is leaded, I guess we'll know in about 6-8 weeks.  I'm holding off on taking cuttings until I actually see some ripe figs.

Jason,

Early last week I made a delivery in Carrollton, Ga and picked up in Andersonville, Ga. the same day. I took the back roads and I'm glad I did.

Along the way I drove through some small towns and saw plenty of large fig trees. I'm talking about 10' by 10' and a couple looked to be more than 15' by 15'. They were a beautiful sight.

I also saw one on a vacant land that must have been 8' around. The signs of neglect were throughout the tree. Had over grown grass and weeds growing in and around it. And that was only at a glance I noticed it.

I see these trees throughout the country and especially in the south. It troubles me not to be able to park and go down and talk to some of the owners. Hard to find a spot to park a vehicle at 72' in length.

Haha!  Yeah, large trucks would be a problem.  There are a multitude of trees around here, but seriously....I'm quickly finding out that damn near all of them are BT and Celeste.

Ok, so much for 6-8 weeks of waiting, more like 2 weeks!!

Hi Jason,

I'm coming to the conclusion that fig trees that are planted in the corners of tall board fences do the best no matter where they are.  I've never seen one planted in such a spot that didn't look beautiful.

Vivian.

Jason,

I hope you harvest those gallons of figs. It would be a crime not to! The house is abandoned. I've been canning them whole when I find an abundance...actually I take off the stem and cut them in half. It works great and it sure is nice to pop open a jar of figs in a light syrup in the middle of winter.

Good Luck,
 Little John

There are so many figs on these trees, I wouldn't know what to do with them.  I know it's not really clear, but that tree canopy is almost 40' wide and deep (if not more) and the trees are 15+ feet tall.  One 'end' branch on this tree could have upwards of 20-30 figs.  A 'main' branch has hundreds if you figure in all the 'end' branches.  It's a lot!! 

OK, Jason, I tweaked this recipe a bit. Its perfect for someone who has a surplus of figs. If you've never made wine before, I can simplify it even further if you'd like. This is for a one gallon batch.

• 4 lbs figs
• 7 pts water
• 3 lbs granulated sugar
• 3-1/2 tsp citric acid OR the juice of 3 lemons
  
• 1 tsp yeast nutrient
• 1 pkg Montrachet wine yeast

Chop or feed figs through mincer. Place in large, finely woven nylon straining bag, tie top, and put in primary fermentation vessel. Stir in all other ingredients except yeast. Cover with cloth. Add yeast after 24 hours and stir daily, pressing pulp lightly to aid extraction of juices. In 3 to 5 days hang bag over bowl to drain, lightly pressing to aid extraction (do NOT force or you will cloud the liquor). While pulp drains, siphon liquor off sediments into secondary. Add drained liquid and discard pulp. Fit airlock to secondary. Ferment about 4 weeks. Rack into clean secondary, top up to 1 gallon and reattach airlock. Rack again in 2 months. Rack again and bottle when clear. This wine can be drank young (after 3 months in bottle), but will improve immensely with age.