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Chris K Ukn!

Well friends I guess I owe everyone an official introduction also!
I was born and raised In Athens Greece but spent every Summer, as far back as I can remember,in a little cabin or summer home as we called it at a nearby beach called Artemis(as per the Goddess of the hunt ).
Athens is a concrete jungle so you won't find many figs there,except fon the occasional rare find like The Kesariani " that looks awesome! Artemis is a different story! Fig farms,vineyards ,and olive trees as far as your eye can see! We ate fresh figs from mid July to mid September and although back then they were just"figs" now I'm pretty sure they were mostly Vasilika Melissi.
Got married to Mrs Eleni K and moved to the big city in 89 . We lived in Flushing Queens for about 15 cold years and decided to head south in 2004 to visit friends for The holidays. A year later we were calling Atlanta home!
A couple of years past and one lovely day on the way home from work I spotted a familiar sight, it can't be! A fig tree in Ga? And then I saw another one and another, they were there the whole time. I was so caught up in my every day routine that I had forgotten ,I was passing by all those precious memories of an awesome childhood ! Simple but awesome. And that is how I reconnected with my most favorite fruit ever and desided to buy one and give it a try! That Saturday morning I and Mrs K found ourselves driving even further south towards TyTy Ga and You all know what that gets you! Not what You think You buy that's what! My Japanese Ishau turned out to be an LSU purple and the white Italian turned out to be a celest (we identified both thanks to You all and through your postings on this forum so thank you all very much for all the knowledge and info You share with all fig growers out there! All my figgies were bought and by now I have a LOT! Nothing too exotic but I love and appreciate every single one! I saved 2 nice sized Brown T(Celeste lol) from HD from certain death or so I thought and the following year 2 Brunswick also good size that were listed as celeste (go figure) but I knew right away that they were different ! I was hoping for Dalmatie after checking out a very cool article from Planet fig but after the first of 35 figs ripened I knew I had two very healthy Brunswick babies!
Oops,running out of space and You guys and gals out of patience! It is a privilege to be among an awesome group of people such as this! Chris Ukn no more!!!!! Thanks again.(special thanks to Waynea for the idea)

Great story, Chris!  I love it!

Thanks Joann!

Welcome, Chris.  If you were surprised to discover figs in Atlanta, GA, imagine how surprised you would have been to discover all the figs growing in Flushing Queens!!!
Cheers,
Jim

Great post, Chris.  I'm sure your collection will be out of control before you know it.  ;)

Thanks Jim! lol I know figs everywhere ,do we know who the most northern grower is?

Thanks Frank,already happening but now I have a partner in crime! Mrs K starting to qualify as a full fledged fig nut! Good times !

Great intro Chris, now we could do an entire thread on Ty Ty. Being new to figs a couple years ago, I bought from Lowes, Walmart. Tractor Supply(very first "celeste" I think), Ty Ty, and other commercial fig experts(big box & self proclaimed trust me nurseries). So I have several named but really unknowns in the ground. I give them credit for fueling my interest in figs. But now I am amongst forum members that I trust will steer me in the right direction and will let me know who to trust. Also, I have learned a lot about rooting, air layering, and best practices on growing. So Chris, you have found the right place to be if you are serious about figs.

Quote:
Originally Posted by FiggyFrank
I'm sure your collection will be out of control before you know it.  ;)


Oh my yes!!!!  You think just a couple will do....  NO, NO... Oh my no.  2 will become 4, 4 will become 9, 9 will become 21....  You know how it is with a good thing.

Chris great story and welcome from Queens, we miss you, many of my neighbors are Greek.

Thanks Wayne ! That's why I got sucked in and started posting from day one without an intro! Love the forum and everything about it!
By the way here's a pic of my fridge! Well the top of it! Serious enough? Lol

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Great background story, thanks for sharing it with us.

Thanks rafaellissimo! Miss you guys too! No Greeks In this part. of the woods! But lots of fig trees though! I' m about 35 miles from the closest greek community but no complaints ! We live among some realy nice people! Oh and our last name a big conversation starter!

Great story, welcome!

Thanks Philip and You too also! Let me know if I can help in any way!

Thanks Calvin! My pleasure .

Welcome!  You're more likely to get a Vasilika Sika or Melissi from your family back in Greece than from anyone here.  There's a VS going around that's really a Stella, most likely.

Feels strange giving you a welcome Chris, since you beat me here by 2 years, lol. But welcome nonetheless!! You are truly good people, and I'm glad to have met you here, my friend. 

Regards,
bill

...and great story too!! =)

Thanks Bob! Working on it but I know that importing cuttings from Greece is restricted so am a little skeptical !!!!
Thanks Bill! Signing date is11/12/2014 so I ve only been a member for about three weeks but I have been following the forum for a good while through Google search on different topics! Figs4fun always comes up first on any fig question ! Have a great day y'all ! Heading to work!

Nice intro, Chris.   Artemis sounds amazing!   Maybe friends or family could send you some 'wood samples' in the post- just remember your old f4f friends when they do!

Great introduction Chris
here is a street view of a tavern in Artemis just in case you get home sick.

https://www.google.gr/maps/@37.9696853,24.0074048,3a,75y,106.88h,81.89t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1s6dYTw8mTBWzcPb2M7GeDUQ!2e0

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  • FMD

Wonderful story/intro, Chris.
Similar history for me except instead of Greece, substitute Italy. We are practically neighbors now. If you are ever traveling I-10, drop by and say hi.

Great story Chris. I enjoyed It.

Very nice story

Chris, I live in Marietta for 7 years.  About the only place that has fig trees is Pike's Nursery.  But beware, no one there has any knowledge about figs.  When I was there, Monrovia was their supplier.  The only figs they had back then was Brown Turkey, Celeste, and Black Jack.  The Monrovia Brown Turkey does not do well in our humid wet climate but other Brown Turkey figs do better.  If anything, get the Celeste or Black Jack and place it in your hottest and sunniest spot of your yard.

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