Once again here the main crop start getting ripe first on :
Marseilles  Black vs
LSU Improved Celeste(non O"Rourke)
My Grandoughter allready had a Marseillles B Vs,and more are getting ripe as we speak.
Too bad the rain season started like a clock on about August 1,and in the last six days we had 4 days of rain.
That is why it is important to have middle ripening ,and late,varieties,because they could very well miss the rain and ripe in ideal conditions and be at best.
I could post this fact in the top three posts made by Jon Verdick,but ,east coast ripening time differs a lot from California times so it just confuses the young new Gardener,on the eaST  coast as to about the time the first fruits suppose to ripe.
If you had  ripe fruits main crop ,on east coast other than above post here,and please say if tree in pot or not,and if Greenhouse time was given or not so we have a honest idea when fig will ripe here on mid Atlantic, coast.
My trees are in ground
I will post pixies later as today is raining hard outside.

Herman, were these trees pinched in order to speed the ripening process?

 Thanks,
  Pete

I have had three from an unknown in ground. they we're a lot smaller then last year. Most of the other figs on the tree still seem small, so we will see when more ripen. 

Yes, I  pinch all my trees,after 5th and sixth leaf.
I am specifically pointing out that I have main crop,getting ripe.
I also had Breba on these 2 varieties and others one month earlier,but they do not count here as main crop.

Herman, I had my first main crop Cucumber fig rpineing last week, but when I went to pick and take pics it was gone. Birds. I need to net some trees.  

Yes Netting is a must here in NJ ,too many cat birds.!

Unknown Tioga main crop ripened here in mid-July, but I think it probably doesn't exactly count, since it spent its time in a greenhouse.  (It had a huge head start and it stayed warm).  It's in a pot.  Everything else that has ripened here so far are breba.

Hey guys, a question about netting.  I haven't put netting on any green/light colored figs... do you put netting on all of yours, or just on the dark ones that stand out visually for birds/critters?  I figured the green ones blend in pretty well, so I haven't been netting them.  But my Peter's Honey is really loaded with figs (not ripening yet, but heavily loaded).  So I'm wondering... maybe put netting on that one even though the figs are  green colored?  (Guess it can't hurt to add the net).

Mike   central NY state, zone 5

Does covering the soil with a tarp work to keep the rain from ruining the figs?

i had my first Natalina yesterday from a 5 year old tree, grown in  pot
ontario zone 5b
no green house but i did bring it into my south enclosed porch around late march to break out of dormancy

The catbirds here know figs,green or black they find them fast,the Breba crop on Atreano I had to share it with them,despite a bird net.
Somehow they make it inside by getting under the net,and then they have a hard time escaping.
I had up to 4 catbirds inside the large net by 9 am,when I went to check out.
They go for the figs ignoring the Chester blackberries,i have growing on the chain link fence(no net) and ripe at the time.
The tree is 8 foot tall by 10 foot wide.

Edit Note:
Aug 8 2012
Malta Black ,and Tacoma Violett (main crop)also started changing color yesterday and will be ripe soon.

Here are pixies of Marseilles black vs and Improved Celeste taken today,main crop. This is a follow up of the original top post.
Early to ripe, and excellent taste on both.
Despite three days rain out of six since August 1.
It did the same last year,so I have no doubt they are the earliest here and possible in many other localities.
Marseilles black vs is 9 years old and it has 300+ fruits on it,maiby more ,hard to count so many,and each grow 35 to 45 grams,or 1.25 to 1.5 ounces each.
Improved Celeste is 4 years old now,loaded with about 60 figs and very promising ,in taste and flavor,just like Mbvs.

Picked first Lattarula of the season on August 7th and first Hardy Chicago on the 8th. Both are in pots and I didn't pinch the trees.

Today Malta Black and Tacoma Violett ,first fruits,mentioned in post #10,were ripe and consumed.
Here are pixies of how they look:
These cultivars are early , reasonable cold hardy,healthy,rain tolerant,and excellent tasting.
Hardy Chicago,Sal Gene and Gino's fig,started coloring now,so they will ripe soon,will let you know,when.
All trees are in ground.

Picked 3 Dark Portuguese - Sweet flavor
         1 Miller Nursery "Brown Turkey" - Very Nice flavor more fruity. I liked it a little better than DP

 Northern New Jersey

  Peter

Hardy C,Sal Gene and Gino got ripe under heavy rain,so not the best flavor,but they will be better in ,the next days of ,end of August and September.
Today Stella is starting getting ripe and this one is another Winner,healthy ,large and resist rain.

My California Brown turkey has 4 figs that will be ready today. That makes 6 main crop from that tree starting 2 weeks ago. My Latarulla and Celeste have already ripened and been eaten.

Here in the Lakes Region of NH my in ground Florea has just started ripening main crop figs.
My 25 gallon pot  Ronde de Bordeaux is just a few days away from ripening main crop.
Lyndhurst White looks like it wants to be next after that.
Kerry

Picked several Hardy Chicago's very good flavor, stronger berry flavor than the ones last week. They held up well from the recent rains as well. I'm starting to see why this is such a popular variety.

 Peter

I have been getting Hardy Chicago MBVS and the unknown tree that looks a lot like Hardy Chicago or MBVS daily for about two weeks. They are really good.

Latarolla, Dark Portuguese, Bisirri Dark, Bisirri lightnot, VDB, LSU Tiger, LSU Gold (1st today) this week so far.

Bayernfeige Violetta, has started to ripen it's breba crop as of today,       8-21-2012.

Marseilles Black VS, which is in a five gallon pot, has started to ripen, it's breba crop figs, here also.

Every thing else either in ground or in pots, is still green and hard, here.

Kerry I'm happy to hear that  your in ground Florea, has started to ripen it's main crop, for you.

That means our florea should be maybe a week ahead of yours.

Herman, says it is even earlier then Marseilles Black VS. Which is good news.

Kerry, please keep us posted as to how it taste for you, in New Hampshire.

Bob zone 5 Connecticut

Midwest near Chicago Illinois.
As originally posted in dated pictures.
First main crop figs eaten - Aug 1st 2012.
Container grown and fig shuffle each spring.

My 4 yrs old Ronde de Bordeaux started getting ripe fruits today.
Atreano started 3 days ago to ripe main crop,and they are very good tasting,from what my wife ,and my daughter in law and grand daughter tell me.It is there domain ,for now.
And I forgotten to point out that my 4 years old ,Improved Celeste(O Rourke not),is ripening a couple of fruits(main crop),every day,for about a week now.
Even the very young 2 yrs old plant of this variety,have given me a couple of fruits each.
I think Improved C is a must for every gardener.
But it must be really improved,not like other Celeste I got from commerce that had on the tag,(the improved Celeste),next to the other names,like (Sugar Fig,Honey,Malta),etc,but were dropping fruits left and right.
That is because only the tag was improved not the tree,LOL>.
So far this week ,2 days without rain,and promissing the same till Saturday,and so there will be many fruits that will ripe properly this week,and taste wonderfull again.

Herman, the Improved Celeste cuttings that we bought from you last Spring, rooted and are producing now in their second year, and we look forward to enjoying them. We really appreciate your early testing. It has saved us a lot of time in finding and testing for cold hardy selections.

Herman, have you been able to determine approximately, how cold hardy Improved Celeste is going to be, say compared to Hardy Chicago?

Also, how cold hardy Improved Celeste is, compared to your Blue Celeste, and other Celeste?

Bob - zone 5 Connecticut

Robert ,I can't say how cold hardy it is,because I protected the mother plant,and had other three young plants in my underground shelter over the Winter.
They did come out intact,so my impression is they are hardy.time will tell how hardy.
I eliminated all other Celeste from my trial row,because one reason:Dropping first part of main crop.
So no farther hardiness evaluation ,I can make,All i can say they were hardy.
I have a new Celeste from Cecil in Texas,I rooted this year,which at least in TExas it does not drop.
Will evaluate in the next three years.