I'm sure many of you have heard me state (whine) that I have 2 measly Brown Turkey figs with a chance to ripen this year. I walked around the corner of the house and see the bigger of the two lying on the ground. I'm not sure if it dropped or was pushed... The other one is green and barely bigger than a marble.

Maybe I was just not meant to try Brown Turkey as my first fresh fig ;-) It will make me appreciate next year more, right?

Don'tcha just hate that. I have been watching a bush full of Celeste figs slowly jettison them over the weeks, leaving me only two or three to  sample. The few I got were darn good, making the loss sting that much more.

Did you pick it up and eat it?  We share with birds, pick them off the ground, and cut off the bad part.  Sunday I cut a KRMK Dark in half as the bird got almost half, I did not care, I have no shame, I am a figamanic!! I know less than I care!!

OUCH! that hurts.   Sorry about that Jeff.

It was still very green inside, not even close to ripe. :-( Trust me, there ain't much I won't eat off the ground if it's good.

   I think most of us have eaten bird leftovers a few times.  You gotta do what you gotta do.  

Be extremely careful about eating food that has been one the gound, dirt, grass, pavement.  Coon dung has a parasite that can ruin your intestines for years and almost kill you.  Google it.

Dennis you should have posted this a little earlier.
Raccoons have destroyed my Evan cherry to the point that I had to cut it at the base. A family of 3 or 4 raccoons were climbing the branches full of sweet & sour cherries, falling down by breaking branches and disfigured the whole tree. When it came to a peach tree with branches close to the ground so there was no breakage of branches but the tree was cleaned of "ripe + unripe" fruits, some 30.
Two days ago they went for grapevines which were ripening. I had supported vines with 2X4 and other supports. This morning we woke up to a twisted mess of vines on the ground and ripe bunches gone. I had heard commotion in the backyard but it was in the last 3rd part of the night and was too lazy or sleepy to get up. When cleaning up the mess and raising up the fallen pots after raccoons rampage, I noticed my last ripe breba on the ground. I convinced myself that it looked clean and enjoyed it! I just hope it was really clean.
I though to replace cedar hedges, where raccoon pass through, with wood fence but the estimate was a bit too high. I know how to catch them one by one but the byelaw for releasing them makes it difficult option. Recently there was a report of a case where someone killed two raccoon with less mercy and is probably facing stiff penalty.
My children argue with me when I just expressed my feelings about raccoon. I get irritated when they say raccoons look so cute and unafraid.

Jeff,
I'm very sorry to hear that. I had similar years with my two trees until I planted them in the ground. When they were in pots I would get only a few figs each year. This year there are a hundred or more figs and the trees are 10ft tall! I'm just hoping they get ripe before a frost (usually early- mid October).

I have to admit, I have ate them off the ground too! I will even eat after the ants has had their share too.Is ant dung bad for you?? Lol

I will definitely be planting some in-ground next year. They're all a little small this year. I could probably get away with planting the BT this year. Maybe I will.

If you decide to plant it I would plant it in the spring as soon as the threat of frost has passed.