What are the earliest figs that ripen? Needs to be close eye, but I'd love to have some thing early and stagger out my crops!

Breba figs are earliest.  But the answer to your question depends on your situation.  Do you live someplace with cold winters?  Are you growing in ground or in containers?  Desert King gives me the earliest crop of figs in good numbers.

Observation tells me that the same variety of figs will ripen earlier in Houston than Austin, TX. I never really timed it but it could mean two to three weeks earlier.
One of my earliest here in Austin is the Celeste. I describe the flavor as sweet but not complex. I prefer the later ripening varieties as they pack more flavor, if you are further south, depending on your setup, you might have an advantage when it comes to ripening your figs earlier.

Richie, only persistent Capri figs are edible( enderud,saleeb).

Are they male ?

Yes, used in Condits breeding program responsible for many great varieties.

Hi, thanks for the replies. I live in Texas on the coast, zone 9.

My earliest fig is Celeste. I just ate my first ripe fig for this year a couple of days ago and it was very sweet. It was a main crop fig. Every year, it's earlier by at least a month or two than any other of the hundred fig varieties. I know there are a lot of Celeste varieties but I have no idea which one.

I enjoyed some great Calimyrna figs over the weekend -from the grocery store: sweet, moist, juicy, succulent, semi-dry. Just couldn't wait for the breba crops to ripen. ;)