How do you suppose it got planted there, from a seed perhaps.
"gene"

Considering the large number of fig trees in the San Jose area, my guess is that either a bird or a rodent attempted to build a nest... so it could have started by a seed or scion.

Love the story. Looks a lot like my BT with the deeply lobed leaves and the outside appearance of the fruit. Never having cut an unripe one open, I do not know what the inside looks like. What ever it turns out to be, its very hardy, productive and if it tastes good, you have quite a find. Like you I would do the same.

I hike a lot and have found all sorts of wild peaches and other fruiting plants in the wild and have been slowly building an edible landscape. Its fun to see what you have and if its blah, you always have the opportunity to replace it with your next 'great find'. Lived up north on a tract of land that had not been farmed since colonial times. In pushing back forest found a lot of old time cultivars of fruits and herbs which had survived on their own. Always felt that anything independent enough to survive on its own for several hundred years sure deserved a place in my garden. Enjoy your find.

JR, the Best Fig Story I read in a While, it Makes me look like I do not have an Addiction. this story should be in A Fig Hall Of Fame Archives.
Mark

Time for an update to this thread! I picked the fruit from my "JR's Folly" tree yesterday, deliberately choosing a "dead ripe" fig so I could compare it to another "dead ripe" fig off my Mission, since that's how I like my Mission figs. I'm not at all a fig connoisseur and my experience is limited to mostly unknown varieties of figs, so let me - in layman terms - describe it as best I can. The JR's Folly had a deeper, stronger (heavier?) flavor than the Mission, kind of nutty/meaty, not overwhelming or over-flavorful, but still similar to the Mission. It had lots of crunchy seeds like the Mission; overall, enjoyable. This one is definitely a keeper.

Today I was compelled to pick a not-so-ripe one from JR's Folly, due to the fact that the birds were starting to peck at it. So in order to stay somewhat consistent in my taste test, I picked one from the Mission fig that was similarly not-so-ripe. I found JR's Folly to be way more tangy, with a definitely brighter red flesh than the Mission (Mission was more pink). I'd compare the taste and color to a Celeste. Also, the JR Folly's seeds of the not-so-ripe one were crunchier, and the Mission's flavor was almost flavorless compared to it.

In my first post of this thread, the last picture shows the JR's Folly fruit in it's green, unripened state. I've picked several Missions in their green, unripened state and they always are solid bright red in the center, not multi-colored like my pic shows of the JR's Folly.

As a side note, the stalks, stems and leaves, as well as the ripening fruit, of the JR's Folly seem to look quite comparable to the Mission (imho). But then again, most dark figs look like Missions to me :)

Enjoy the pics!

 


 

 

 

I love the story, and the name couldn't be better! 
The fruit looks gorgeous and sounds like it was definitely worth going after (and maybe sharing some day  ~ hint, hint ~ LOL). Does it require a wasp?

Cool story bro.
And the fruit looks great.

Hey JR, now that's a funny story! Good Looking Fig! Congrats! : )

Thanks for sharing a great story! Saving trees is always a great endeavor, too many heirloom fruit trees have been lost over the years and we will never to able to get that genetic variation back.  For all your hard work it looks like you got a plant that produces some great figs. Congrats on the success! 

Sorry its not a brown turkey. Actually it's worse,a male capri fig....

Thanks everyone !  :)

caprifig haha.. too funny!