I was at the Charlotte farmers market on Saturday and there was a guy selling fig trees.
There were only 3 and they were all Chicago Hardy.  The guy asked if I was interested in figs and I said yes and that I had about 30 plants.  He asks what I have and I start to tell him and he says "why don't I know you"?  Something clicked and I said maybe you do.  Are you on figs 4 fun form.  He gave me a big grin and said "I'm SnagglePuss".  What fun and what a surprise.  I had my niece with me (aka bug girl) after the bug in the ear incident and he took a picture of the three of us together.  Can't wait to spend some time checking out his collection of figs!

and here is the selfie we took!

Nice to find friends and a great picture.  thanks for sharing

Nice!!

Made me smile!  Thanks for a happy post.

Cool!  :)
 

Fun story.

Dennis, do you find much interest in fig trees at the farmers' market there?

That made me smile. How cool was that!

So who is who in the selfie?

How great !!

SChalplin is in the middle, I'm on the right, her neice is on the left.  Her neice is the one who had the bug in her ear!

Harvey, I sell trees at our regional market every Saturday between 7 and 1PM.  I've been asked to sell at other markets and nurseries in Charlotte but I don't have the time.  Some large nurseries in Charlotte also buy trees from me.  I have a web site but I don't have all my pics there yet.  Some have found it by accident and have emailed me saying hello; but its a work in progress.  I don't have it completely designed the way I want it yet.  I'm a perfectist...what can I say!

 I don't sell from my website yet but I will later this Fall.  Folks call me looking for certain fig varieties.  They email me seeking education and advice.  Most trees I sell are in the 2 and 3 gallon size, however I do sell larger trees.  I also deliver for a fee.  At the market some nurseries sell fig trees but they only Celeste and Brown Turkey and don't have a clue what it is or how to grow it.  At the market, I spend most of my time educating people about the vast varieties of figs out there and talking to folks about their tree.  

I've been selling there almost 5 years now.  Sometimes, I will give a tree or 2 away depending on what I have.  When the figs ripen, I let folks taste the fruit from Brown Turkey, Celeste, Alma, Hardy Chicago and a few others because most folk think all figs are fig newtons.  Usually when they taste one, they buy!  I'm out to change their way of thinking about figs.  Trader Joes and Costco sell figs in the summer.  They are wrapped nice but taste like crap because they are picked before they are ripe.  Folks buy them and the moment they bite into one and see how horrible it taste, they think all figs are like that.  The reality is they are not!  

In the summer, I have a lot of figs to pick.  I pick 10 to 15 pounds of figs a day.....some times more!   I sell figs to resturants in Charlotte.  Most want the Green Ischia or Adriatic figs for a nice presentation on a plate.  Folks that eat at those resturants find out the figs came from me.  The resturants give them my contact information and soon I'm selling a person one of my trees.

I also dry some.  I also make jam from my figs and sell the jam at the market.  Sometimes take orders.  Folks order my jam by the case.  Some of the jam I make is:

Lemon Fig Jam
Vanilla Fig
VSOP Fig Jam
Drunken Fig Jam
Heavenly Fig Jam
Balsamic Fig Jam (one of my best sellers!)
Black Mission fig Jam
Strawberry Fig Jam 

cheers!

What a wonderful story!  I am happy for all of you... good happy ending... Perfect.

Thanks for the information, Dennis. Nice venture you have going. :)

Have you ever made any 'drinking vinegars' or 'shrubs'? Basically fresh fruit, sugar, and vinegar (I use white balsamic from TJoe's) that has been either cold or heat steeped. There are many recipes on the web. I've made quite a number of flavors this year, and plan to try figs when I get enough to play with. Use either as a salad dressing (leafy or fruit), in cooking, or put some in sparkling water for a very refreshing summer drink, or use in cocktails.

I was in a hoity toity store that was selling these things for over $1 per ounce!  And you can make better ones at home that don't cost much to make at all.

Here is a good over-view article:  http://cocktails.about.com/od/cocktailspeak/fl/What-is-a-Shrub.htm

Thanks Gina.  Never heard of Shrubs until now.  Hmmmmm.  I will have to try this using figs.  Thank you for the tip!

Drunken fig jam sounds pretty good dennis. What's in it?

Sounds great, Dennis.  Dennis the fig evangelist!  My chir0practor told me last week she has never tasted a fig!  I am going to change that before long.  She and her husband have a 16 acre vineyard and they are planting their first garden this year.  I think I may have to sell her a tree or two! :)

Awesome Dennis!

Dennis, you've been showing us your hands for years but we never knew what a handsome dude you are.  Your market stand alone sounds like it's worth a trip to Charlotte.

It's great to hear that kind of story......

Regards,

Ong

Wow!  Really nice coincidence!

My Drunken Fig Jam is made with Courvoisier cognac. It's expensive but I like it.

Alan, at the farmer's marrket every Saturday Chefs come to seek fresh fruits and vegetables. All I am allowed to say is this one resturant is a big name resturant located uptown on South Tryon St. This year, I have 2 chefs from 2 different resturants wanting my figs. These resturants don't cook them. They add them on plates with desserts and salads.

Wow, what a nice story. May be one day I will meet someone from this forum.

It was a lot of fun finding Dennis at the market.  I would be back to talk figs but this Sat. is Orchid judging in Greensboro and I need to pick up a plant.

So cool! Love the story and how small our world really is. I LOVE jams! Can't wait till I have enough figs to make jam out of them. Your jams sound delicious, by the way :)

Wow Dennis, What an enviable fig life you have
Cheers to you my friend