File this one under THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES:

So there I was working in my garage on one of the few sunny Saturdays in recent memory (er, I should be building an ARK, what with all the rain)--my mind had just wandered into thinking about the various figs I've got in the ground & a neighbor walks up to ask me what varieties am I growing!

I probably made him sorry he asked (not many fig folk in these parts, a fig grower  gets lonely, etc.) but he told me he has a tree that just started bearing IN ITS EIGHTH YEAR (not what I want to hear in year 3 here...). I did allow him a word in edgewise and he said his fig is *Crusader* purchased from a nursery in Battle Ground, WA --no longer selling figs as far as I can tell.
So I scroogled this:
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/fig/msg051934359257.html

But (more work for Jon??) the question is does Cottenham / Crusader cross - reference to any varieties we know & love?

Appreciate you all.

I've seen that variety come up 2 or 3 times, but could never get any reall solid info about it. I seem to remember that it went by a couple other names as well. The last time I saw it was as a recommendation by a cooking magazine or website, if I remember correctly. 

Thanks Jon!
Time for FUN: I will try to get photo's, etc. before everything is frozen!
Btw, my neighbor is the local Rabbi. Love the *Crusader* irony.

Here is the history of the Cursader Fig from the granddaughter of the person who brought the cuttings to Oregon in the 60's. It's posted at this link in the comments section about half-way down:

http://www.portlandfoodanddrink.com/2008/08/16/local-figs-a-love-letter-to-a-short-sweet-season/


"liz mason says:

i would like to correct a bit of misinformation in your article about the fig you called the crusader fig. i am the daughter of margaret and it was my grandfather who first found the fig. It is correctly called the Cottenham Fig after the village outside Cambridge, England where it was found by my grandfather in a farm near his own. The farm had been owned at one point by a knight who apparently brought the fig back with him when he returned from the Crusades. It was identified by a staff member of the Royal Botanic Garden in London and I assure you that the original fig is healthy robust and producing abundant figs. Several years ago it was designated as a heritage tree and as such is saved from destruction and under strict regulations with respect to pruning and other care.

my mother who brought a cutting from England in the ’60’s when such things could still be done happily handed out cuttings to her gardener friends and there are many still thriving in the portland area including in her original garden and my own.

the large figs are thin skinned, light pink to red inside and to me they taste like honey."