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Joe's Jersey

I have been calling my unknown Joe's Jersey, but I am curious if someone recognizes it as a known variety.  This plant started as a green cutting last summer.


It has a very dense, bushy growth habit.

The leaves look like this:

The fruit has a red eye.

To me it seems similar to Hardy Chicago but it puts out fruit earlier in the season and is more productive.  This plant was hardy in the ground in Clifton, NJ and it also handles the desert heat in Arizona very well.  I will post pics of ripe fruit later in the year.

Anyone have an idea of what this could be?
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looks like a really healthy plant. Enjoy
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Joe,

The plant is very young and may not have its mature leaf shape(s) yet. I have one similar to yours and am leaning towards Celeste. Have any pics of the parent tree/fruit?
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Will, thanks.

Ruben, yeah I know leaf shape on smaller plants can be different from adult, but I figured maybe it's big enough now to show the true shape. They're coming out consistently the same these days. It was probably premature of me to post this without pics of ripe fruit anyway. I'll have to revive this post when I have ripe fruit to show. I picked off all the early fruits that formed so the plant could focus on growth, which it did.

Unfortunately I don't have pics of the mother tree either. My mom lives in NJ and took the cuttings for me last year in June I think. From what she told me the mother tree isn't looking so great these days anyway. This was a large established tree when we lived at the property it grows on, but the current owners keep cutting it down and now it just sends up suckers from the roots.

I thought that Celeste does not have a red eye on immature fruit?
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  • BLB

I think it safe to say that is not a Celeste. The leaves look like a tree I saw at an Italian Restaurant in Jersey. That tree came from Italy. I am going back in September to try and get cuttings and find out more about it.  
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Ruben,


I posted a photo of this plant in an old post.  The photo is from last year (August I think) when it was a much smaller plant.  Joe's Jersey is the plant all the way to the right.  So I think the leaves that are coming out now are the true shape.
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Alan,


I don't think it is that fig.  I've noticed that leaves on several of my cultivars have gotten more of a saw-tooth looking edge to them since moving to Arizona.  I think it may be a response to the climate.
 
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Joe,
I love the look of that plant.  I am a sucker for the leaves!  If you ever have cuttings available, please keep me in mind.       What does the fruit taste like?
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Sara,


I'm probably going to make a few cuttings available in the winter.

I don't remember the flavor of this fig because the last time I ate it was about 20 years ago when I was a kid.  I'm looking forward to getting ripe fruit from it probably in September some time.  I'll post pics and a description then.
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Thanks Joe.   I can imagine you are glad to now have the tree where you are!
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Sara, you bet I am!  This is the fig that I ate as a little kid.  I learned to love eating figs because of this one.
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A couple of figs are starting to ripen up on this tree.  I'll post pics of ripe fruit in a few days and hopefully I can get an identification on this one.
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Is that a tiny bit of honey on the eye?
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Jason,


I think its just a scale from the eye that is a different color than the rest.  Here's a different angle.
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Looks great Joe--let us know if it tastes the way you remember it.
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So I tasted a ripe fig from this tree today.  I hadn't tasted a fig from this variety in about twenty years.  I didn't remember how it tasted and wasn't sure what to expect.

Here are pics:


The flavor was not what I expected.  It was at a medium level of sweetness.  Also at a medium level of classical "fig" flavor.  But it had a strong acidic flavor that I have not tasted in other figs in my current collection.  It was different but nice.  You can't tell too much from just one fig.  I have another one that will ripen in a day or two.  Then I have some more that will ripen in a few weeks.  I'll taste those to compare.

Again, here is a photo of the leaves:
The leaf on the left is an old leaf from early in the season.  This is the typical leaf type when the weather is not to hot.  The leaf on the right is the typical shape that comes out once the weather gets very hot.  The leaves are fairly small on this variety.

Is this a known variety or is this something new?
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Here is another fig from this tree.  This one was a little sweeter.  Not much of a typical "fig" flavor.  It had that acidic flavor again.  I would describe that taste as more like peach or nectarine.  It was good.  Any idea if this is a known variety?
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I'm bumping this one just to see if I can get any feedback.  Does anyone know what this is?  In my collection it is most similar to Hardy Chicago.  The leaves and fruit look almost identical.  But the flavor is different (HC has a strong classical "fig" flavor).  This one also seems more productive and starts forming fruit earlier in the season without pinching.
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This fig continues to be one of the healthiest and most productive in my collection.  I tasted another fig from it yesterday.  It was nice and sweet.  I would describe the taste as: Sweetness 8 out of 10, Figgy Flavor 4 out of 10, Peachy Richness 6 out of 10.  I hope its quality continues to improve as the plant matures.  The fruit remains small (about the size of a quarter), but is very soft and moist.

Here are some updated photos:


I am visiting NJ in October and will try to take photos of the mother tree.
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Perhaps you can grab a few cuttings from the mother tree as well. There are bound to be several members who would love to test this variety out. Do you take trades?
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wondering if the taste change is mostly because of climate change??? also what part of new jersey is home for the mother plant? i'm from new jersey and would love to get cutting or a small tree. please let me know if this is possible.  good health
                                  luke
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Afigfan & Luke,


I'm going to make cuttings of this plant available for others to grow.  I'll see if that's a possibility when I visit the mother plant, if not then when my plant needs pruning I will distribute from what I have.  It's located in the Athenia section of Clifton.  The plant was large and established when my family lived at the property in the 1980's.  But the current owners have neglected the plant and keep cutting it back to the ground.  My mom was lucky to find enough of it left last year to take a few cuttings.  I'll see what's left of it this year when I'm in NJ.   

Here's another fig on my tree that will be ripe in a day or two.  I'll post pics of this one when it's ripe.
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Here is another fig from Joe's Jersey.  It is soft and sweet and rich and peachy.  I think that the flavor is improving as the plant gets bigger and stronger.  The fruit is small.
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More figs are ripening up on this tree.  It's a good variety, whatever it ends up being called.
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hey joe, looking at the new growth. man that thing is growing like a weed. how long is your season in arizona? when i was a kid my family moved to phoenix from nj 5 times. my pop would load up 3 station wagons, there was 17 of us. he was a boilermaker and when it got cold we headed to phoenix. i can remember in december wearing a sweater in the morning, but come noon it was off. sorry, i went off fig coarse.
                                                    luke
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