Hi there !! I am new to this forum and fairly new to figs in general :) I have read yalls posts for a while now, and I have finally decided to start commenting! Thank you all for the great advice and sense of community around here.

I am excited for spring that's for sure! I have a mighty big celeste in my yard here in Maryland, but it has never produced ripe figs. I am distraught over this, since I have babied it year after year. Mr. Saxon has helped me out, stating that celeste figs tend to be fussy. I am going to try shaking things up a bit this season, per his advice. Here is to hoping that my mama tree doesn't die at the hand of this gruesome winter storm! I would be very upset to say the least.

I also base a lot of my artwork around nature... and sometimes figs :) A few of my pieces are on this website if you'd like to take a look!: http://deyo.carbonmade.com/

Anyway. Just wanted to say hi! Would anyone like to share with me a story about how they became interested in figs?

Welcome, lelsa!

My grandfather introduced me to figs as a child.  In just the past few years, I began propagating and collecting more.  Looking to carry the tradition with my family.
I hope your Celeste tree begins rewarding you this year!

Frank, my grandfather introduced me to figs, it didn't go well, and it took another 30 years before i got anywhere near anything other than a fig newton.

My first fig tree was a rooted sprout my Grandfather dug up from  the base of his tree.  I planted it at my parents house.  That was about 40 years ago.  Putting up fig preserves was a yearly thing for my grandparents who had 4 big trees.

Welcome to the forum!

Welcome the club ..:) regard from Indonesia

Welcome to the forum Lauren!  Your web site has nice art work by the way.

I remember figs from when I was a child.  I remembering eating a lot of them. 
My first 2 fig trees were rooted sprouts from my father's trees.  I still grow these 2 Italian figs a black and a white. 
Recently I discovered F4F and have caught fig fever so now I am trying to expand my collection. 
Some of the fellow fig fetishist members here have over a hundred varieties.  Don't know how they keep track of them all. 
I am just looking for a dozen fig or so varieties that grow well in-ground in my area and let me savour a tiny little of the diverse tastes of the thousands and thousands of fig tree cultivars around the world.

Hi Lelsa,
Welcome to the forum.
Good luck with yours trees .

Greetings and welcome, my grandparents in TX had an old old fig tree and my sister and I would climb up in and sit eating figs and chatting... I also have a Celeste, was a clearance special at Loews, hopefully your will produce the way mine does some day.

Welcome:)

welcome

Welcome lelsa!  This is THE place to learn about growing figs!!!

I am new to the forum and fig interest since about Aug of last year, have gathered a few small trees in pots and have about 15 varieties rooting / leafing out.  I got interested in fig growing as an extension of my interest in gardening and raising other fruit trees.  Love dried fruit (made a lot of dried apples and pears from my orchard this year), tried a new variety of dried figs from the grocery store, my wife said 'why don't you try growing and drying those?', and so I found this forum.  And the fig addiction started.

Are you protecting your in-ground Celeste tree in winter?

Welcome from Southern California!  Good luck with your Celeste!

Suzi

Welcome, lelsa!

 

Welcome to the Forum, Lelsa.  You're quite the artist!  Are those first few oil paintings, self portraits?  She looks like a girl I once new named Lela. :)

Welcome to F4F forum Lelsa, Lovely art ;)

Welcome!

Hi
Not so expreienced myself but this forum got me through the rough patches.
Share whatever u can . Anything that will get us through this winter

Thank you all for the warm welcome! I love reading your stories. It is very neat that so many people have deep relationships w the fruit, such as a family member sharing a cutting etc. @Dallasfigs, yep self portrait but my name is not Lela, close though! and @Eboone, I did not wrap it, but I did insulate it pretty well on the ground. I have learned my lesson though :( I think I may just build it its own house next winter haha. 

My first fig tree came from my high school boyfriend's father... it was a sucker from his giant tree that he had in the backyard of his city row-house. He had brought it from the small town where he grew up in Southern Italy. Fast forward about 7 years later and I still have the tree. I have taken plenty of cuttings this year because I am moving for graduate school and want to bring some babies with me! I hope to move somewhere warmer, that is for sure.

Lelsa, welcome from another Marylander! In my part of the state no one says "y'alls" but then again a lot of us came here from somewhere else. I would think a large well-established Celeste in Maryland should be fine even with our harsh winter and even if it is unprotected.  If not, then nearly all fig trees in the area are goners.  You sound like you love the tree but if it were me at some point I would give up and plant a different variety or better strain of Celeste.  There's so many great varieties out there that do well in our area.  If you want to check back with me in the Spring I may have extras from propagation that I could give you if you are willing to pick them up.

Welcome. Just went back to school myself to finish my CPA requirements. Which led to becoming interested in figs again. Needed an earthy diversion from studying :) Best of luck with grad school.