Wow, Mario.  What a beautiful greenhouse, and so large!  My grandparents are from the Emilia-Romagna Region of Italy, and my grandmother used to have a fig from that area she brought with her when she came to the US.  I have no idea what it was, but she said it was the most favorite fig from where she lived. When she moved, she'd either take the plant or take a cutting.  She moved a lot throughout her life, and I wonder if she kept up the practice all the way to her last home.  I should see if I can take a peek into her last house's backyard, since it's in my general neighborhood.  She ate figs every day, and ate lemons everyday.  She felt it was part of being able to live a long life and have good health.  She lived to 98 and passed away in her sleep, so she must have been on to something!  How special have figs from your area in Italy.

Harvey, it gets very hot in summertime but the greenhouse is on a hill and it gets a nice breeze most of the time, also figs love heat the more the better. The green hose is from a 1500 gal. water tank that is on the side of greenhouse and it catches rain from gutters on the garage . I mostly only use rainwater the hose is 1-1/2 " when i open it it only takes about 5 minutes to flood the greenhouse, very quick way of watering.this year I had to cut all the tops off all those figs they were over 10' tall. Dale, I would rater jail them then loose them to the winter I would never forgive myself after all the trouble my father went through to get them here. Dale, I put a package in the mail this morning for you. Patty, Emilia Romagna is a beautiful region of Italy I have been there, but then again is there any bad region of Italy? Patty, my grandmother was 88 when she died and died in her sleep, she drank wine till the day before she died, she always said water was only good to wash with.

Oh my gosh, this makes me so nostalgic and a wee bit sad, Mario!  My parents and grandparents are gone, now, so it's just my sister and me to carry on our traditions.  My grandmother also drank wine every day of her life.  They had their own vines and made their own wine back in Italy (just about all her neighbors did).  Being Italian-American, our diet sort of became "Americanized", and I'll never forget when she saw us drinking milk with our pasta and Marinara sauce.  I thought she was going to turn green!  She said NO ONE ever drank milk with Marinara sauce, it was "bad for your stomach".  Instead, they would allow the older kids to have watered down wine, and the younger kids had mineral water.  And, we have her and my husband's limoncello recipes (my husband is also of Italian extraction), fortunately.  We make limoncello here and we've gotten the "seal of approval" from Dave's mom (her parents are also from the Emilia Romagna region and Sicily).  Please keep me updated on how your Salce figs do.  I wish I could find out what fig my grandmother so loved.  I have been able to collect the lemons from her area, but haven't been able to ID the fig.  I would just kill to have that fig - a last memory of my grandparents and my dad, and to pass on to my girls, who all like to garden!  (Maiden name is "Marconi", btw).

So many of us are trying to connect with our heritage. My fathers family came form Calabria, Italy. I know his parents grew figs, grapes & hot peppers!  Made their own wine and sausage also , the pepper seeds came from Italy as well as the figs. We used to say that you only passed the pepper over the food and that was hot enough . Don't think I ever saw anyone actually eat a whole one !! No fig trees still grow at their old home(s), nor does anyone have the pepper seeds any longer, sad . My Dad just passed a few months ago at 93 and also drank red wine daily !! Something I do now . As kids we always had wine at the dinner table .

I hope you are able to find the fig tree your family grew, Patty.

Mario , thanks for the pictures. Your greenhouse is wonderful ! We have an area here at our FL home that will eventually be made into a greenhouse.

Such stories. Back in the '80s, we visited the house in which my grandmother was raised, in a little town south of Youngstown. Her sister still lived there.  Dad, (pictured in my profile) took me down into the cellar and he was instantly transported back to his youth. "There is where the sausage hung."  "Over here is where they made wine." you coudl see the sausage bench and the wine stains on the floor. In the wall we could see a stone oven where the bread was baked. Wow, gives "cottage industry" a whole new meaning.  So with Mario's pictures of his home town, I can see where my folks came from and why they were so self-sufficient. Now what's left? What they grew. Thanks Mario.

they can be expensive, if you do it properly