Here in central AZ the main crop is starting to ripen, and some breba figs are still ripening.  I ate a couple of main crop figs yesterday from Violette de Bordeaux and LSU Purple.  I ate another VdB main crop fig this morning along with a couple of Barnissotte main crop figs.  The figs have been going straight to my mouth before I get the camera!  I figured I should snap a few pictures of some figs in various stages of ripening on the trees before they get eaten too.  Desert King is still ripening brebas and so is VdB.  All the other trees had a small or non-existent breba crop this year.  I'm not sure why it worked out that way this year.  VdB, LSU Purple, and Barnissotte are the earliest main crop figs so far in my small collection.  Here are some photos.  Enjoy.


Desert King breba (very good)



Violette de Bordeaux breba (very good)



Violette de Bordeaux main  (very good)



Barnissotte main (excellent)




LSU Purple main (fair)




Jupiter grape vine



Eva's Pride peach tree

Thanks for the photos, Joe.  Gives the rest of us something to look forward to.
(BTW, that unknown you sent me as a cutting last year is over four feet tall and pumping out a ton of main crop figs.  Looking forward to trying them.  Hopefully early next month).

In what way is Barnisotte better than VdB, given that one is very good and the other excellent?

I ask since most readings give very similar flavor profiles...

Edited to add, your peaches are really, really, lovely.  It's a real struggle to grow *any* stone fruit in the SE, despite what you hear about Georgia and South Caroline peach acumen.  At least we can spray them nice and all, but russetted apples and pears are mind-boggling easier to crop than any stone fruit.  Can't get green gages to fruit, just one Santa Rosa plum in probably two decades, a few peaches, and sour cherries seem to do okay with minimal care.  The best performers in the Atlanta area are definitely prunes.  Those guys fruit more than any plum curculio can handle, and they don't rot easily.

So when I read about grower's experiences in the Southwest, I get misty-eyed at all the lucky people getting to grow the likes of Flavor King pluots.  Even then, guys like Axel of Clouforest are like--bleep, Cherimoyas are easier to fruit than these bleeper bleeeeeeeps, bleep, I'm cutting all y'all down, bleeper-bleepeeeeeeeerrrrrrs!.

Dave, glad to hear that the unknown is doing good for you.  I like that tree a lot.  It does really well down here too.  The main crop ripens later on that tree.  I don't expect to get any main crop figs off of it until next month also.

Shah, both are very nice figs.  VdB is healthier and more productive.  The flavor is not really the same between VdB and Barnisotte.  Both are very sweet.  VdB has more of an acidic / tangy / berry flavor.  The Barnissotte figs I ate this morning were CANDY SWEET.  Barnisotte has its own unique flavor.  To me it has more of a melon / green fig flavor profile, but amped up a lot more than a green fig.  This morning Barnissotte was the winner.  Later in the week it might be VdB.

 Oh, wow!  Thanks a lot for that answer!  Betcha Bullet08 likes that sound of that!  Sounds almost like Paradiso Bronze that he likes.