After moving to NC, I discovered fresh figs at the local farm stand.  They were mild in flavor and sweetness, but juicy and good enough for me.  When the wife tried them she said they were, "Insipid".  After some research I found that some varieties might taste better, so I bought a Violet de Bordeaux, a Hardy Chicago, a Celeste and a Saint Anthony from EL.  We have loamy fine sand here so I installed a mini sprinkler irrigation system and the figs grew quite well.  The VdB grew over 6' tall in the first year.  I have since pruned them to shape, but the good news is we got over 75 figs from the HC and the VdB and they passed the wife test!  We were both impressed.  The C didn't grow and had to be replanted.  The SA only produced 2 figs late in the fall that didn't ripen well, but I have heard it produces on last years wood.  So we will see how they are this year.   Here are some pics of the VdB figs and the trees:

Those look like winners to me!  Definitely a great series of first selections for some real winners.  Thanks for sharing the pictures - looks like you have room for about a dozen more in-ground figs ;)

Nice pictures thanks for sharing them. I can see what you mean looking closely at the soil around the fig trees. You think you will be getting more fig plants in future ?

Thank you.  I was thinking of getting a fig with yellow pulp for next year.  :)  This spring I'm gonna focus on a mulberry, persimmon, pomegranate, pawpaw, guava, blackberries and the kitchen garden.

Spoken like true figaholics, MORE figs!  FYI-I'm up two figs now.

That looks like a great selection.  Two notes:  Paw Paw require full sun and a pair to pollinate.  Blackberry - try to get a thornless variety, too much risk of stabbing yourself on thorny varieties, and the risk of brambles is high.

Tim, excellent choice of figs that are doing great.  Nice going.  Jason, how does apache blackberry grab you?

For fresh eating, in the southeast, most folks grow Apache, Arapaho, Navaho, Ouachita.  All four are thornless varieties.  I'm not 100% positive if any produce on new canes.  I just realized, I think I'm confusiong raspberries and blackberries.  Both are canes-based, and have thorned and thornless varieties, but the new vs. old cane thing always gets me confused.

Jason, thank you for the advice.  The right varieties in the right environment is crucial.  Ed, I've settled on Apache for similar reasons.  I have seen it do well here in my area and it is really good.

All of the varieties I mentioned do really well in central and northern Florida, and most, if not all, have been tested by the Agriculture folks @ University of Florida.  Considering the look of your soil around the trees, it looks spot on with soil in Gainesville FL ("sugar sand"/black/grey sand with dirt), I think you will have great success with any of the four I just mentioned.

Absolutely.  I wish I could grow them all. :)  The soil we have is Norfolk Loamy Fine Sand.  It has a low CEC but it works, especially with amendments and irrigation.  The figs love it.