JD, you have made me envious. So many perfectly dead ripe figs. This year looks to be a wash out for me again because of the rains. I was able to stop the birds to perfection but no stoping the rains. Maybe I'll have to build a roof over them.
"gene"

I just inherited a beautiful, vigorous, "Bensonhurst Purple"/"Hardy Chicago" from a very generous forum member.  It's still a small tree, but it has about 6 figs on it.  I hope they get to ripen.  I'd also like to take a trip into HC land, and taste the reputation.

I see good things coming my way in future seasons.

Nice photos, and good information.



Frank

My Lowes HC has a nice amount of figs this year . Last year they were good and sweet . Hoping this year they are even better !

Underrated. High Quality. Hardy Chicago is and always has been an excellent fig here. Martin, Thanks for sending me cuttings back in January 2010. It was the first fig I put in the ground and the one in the ground at my Mother's home in South Florida is producing very good figs also.

JD,

Nice fig and first class pictures. I must not let next season go without rooting 2 or 3 sticks of HC.

I am curious to find out how it will grow here with lots of Sun and heat to spare.

I have to find a couple of cuttings somewhere!

Francisco

do i understand you correctly? my  hirts HC i got in janurary will give me figs two years from now? this was my first fig and it would be nice to know. and, is that just 2-3 figs.? please tell.

Susie,
No, you did not understand me correctly. Please clarify what you are asking. What in my post made you expect your HC from Hirt's to give you figs two years from now?

i'm sorry, jd. i thot you had said that and now that i look back i see you haven't. i'm sometimes a bit scatter brained. but, since i got you, would you please tell me when your tree came into bearing? or, anything else you can share, when you have time?

i didn't mean to usurp your thread, i just hoped you could tell me what to expect.

only if you feel like answering a silly question.

Susie,

No worries. I wanted to be certain that I had not misled you. You jumped to a conclusion that I was not expecting. I just was not sure how you got there.

To answer your question, I reread the post that I linked to in post #29 of this thread. It started bearing in 2011. Ask and I will answer what I can based upon my experiences.

thank you jd. you said you got the scion 3 years ago 2010? then you show a pretty fig from 2011? is that correct? i was just wondering about the time line from planting to first good fig to  first normal crop.

Susie,
You got it. First good tasting one in 2011 and really good since then. It is not a prolific tree but a steady producer of consistently top quality figs.

thank you very much. now I know what to expect,

it is very pleasing to find out it tastes good.

it was my first fig, bought on a whim from hirts when I was shopping for something else. I did no research, just clicked the buy button.

that led me here and now I haunt this site regularly.

I stay mostly because of nice members like you who are so willing to help those of us who are clueless.

 

Susie,
This is a forum of nice members. Quirky, experienced, stubborn, and set in their ways but generally nice. When I arrived here in 2010, I was clueless and figless. Martin (Dieseler) and Dan (Dan_la) were the first to share cuttings with me. Martin sent me Hardy Chicago and Sal's EL cuttings, and Dan sent me Atreano and LSU Gold cuttings. More importantly, forum members shared know-how and how-to.

I am no longer clueless but what I call not as confused as I once was. If there was hope for me, the future is bright for you. Keep asking questions.

thank you for sharing your experiences. like you, I have been made tio feel welcome. when I post questions, I always get answers and have made many friends whom I cherish, I couny you as one.

A very good fig even at a different stages of ripeness.

Wow!! You really capture the essence of figs with your pictures.  
My 2 Chicago Hardy are filled with green figs, so hopefully I can have some perhaps in September.  Last year one gave me 2 figs and they were really good.

This may have been discussed but I read somewhere that hardy Chicago and sal's el are either very similar or the same. Can someone elaborate please? I've also read many times that hardy Chicago is a must have variety. I have some sal's cuttings on the way but if they are the same or at least very similar I won't get a hardy Chicago and save my limited space for something else.

Ryan i had both  a Sals i bought many years back from Edible landscaping and a Hardy Chicago from Paradise nursery which closed.
In my case both were similar looking plants but the figs i could tell blindfolded the difference .

Sals was sweeter right from first bite , Hardy Chicago from first bite has that bold rich fig taste thats the difference at least on my palate with my particular cultivar as there may be other strains out there .
Sals was good producer better than Hc.

Each season as i taste different dark types Sals kept falling down the list in taste department so i got rid of it.
Hardy Chicago to me and me only is unique yet a simple common fig will always be in yard but thats just my take on it
as we all have different opinions and taste.

Martin, thanks for posting the delicious fig pictures! My HC figs are currently ripening, but I have a cold. Can't taste a thing. How long can I leave the main crop on the trees, before they sour? I want my figs to look like yours!

I picked one when a friend came by and she was hooked. Her response, this doesn't taste like a fig newton.

Thanks,
Von

Thanks Martin, I may still wind up with a HC, even if I have to keep it potted. I did a search on it last night and found some good reading on sal's-HC thing.

 JD posted the pictures all i show was simple breba fig.
He deserves all the credit not i for posting all those wonderful pictures and starting this thread.
Please thank him. ; )

Thanks for the great pics again JD, after reading martins last post I thought "where is my manners?" Lol, I almost hi-jacked your thread without giving credit where credit is due.

FYI- Whole Foods in Ohio has just brought in Hardy Chicago, Celeste and Black Spanish and selling for $19. THe plants are several feet high and some have fruit forming. I understand that Georgia Whole Foods has had them for several weeks.

If Whole Foods would license JD's pictures of Hardy Chicago, then there wouldn't be any trees left by the next day. You can almost consume it with your eyes. The contrast of the light, cool blue in the background vs the dark, warm colors of the object/ subject of the picture is a very elegant touch. In other pictures with the tan background, the play of light, object, and shadow is more pronounced and the figs hold more of the eyes' focus. With photography being so technical and now digital photography being so ubiquitous, it's hard to produce something that is expressive and artistic, that shows ones' understanding of the medium and the subject beyond the point and shoot or getting the perfect light and focus. The pictures of this thread show that it can be done. Well done JD.

JD, where did you get formal trading, if any, in art and photography?