Excellent post. Loved it and thanks for sharing your experience.

The Pompeii fig looks/sounds incredible.  I suppose there is a very good chance it needs pollination though.  Did it look like it grew there as a wild fig or was it being cultivated intentionally?  If the latter then there is a better chance that it does not need pollination.

Awesome pics. Thanks for sharing! I gardini di pomona is now on my list of places to go. 

Thanks again, Levar. I actually have a small Asangu, and had no idea what it looks like. Can't wait to try it now.

beautiful pictures!

So cool!

Hi Levar,
Next time send some cuttings to me in France, and I'll grow them and report to you on their performances :) (One can always dream of that. It is Christmas time after all ...)
Nice trip !
In my travels, I haven't seen a single abandoned productive fig tree ... One day, who knows ...
Fortunately, fig trees are more popular, and more nurseries do sell them. That allows me to find some new strains, that I have never seen before . Now, I just have to use patience for the trees to grow and fruit...

Hi Levar,
This is a dream post that you presented here for our pleasure. Outstanding photos and the scenic shots are fantastic. Thanks you very much
Lou

You know, that’s something I’d actually do just to keep the tree in the system so that one day we all might own it. I'll definitely be back in Pompeii someday, and I’ll keep that in mind and let you know before hand. It seems like a lot of weirdly enthusiastic extra work but I definitely think it's worth it.

What a fabulous trip that must have been!  Thank you for sharing your photos and descriptions!

Thats was great FIGS vacation.... Its Pelligrino from Pompeii

I was in Sardinia this summer for 2 weeks, I rented a bicycle to travel between some towns and villages (really steep hills and heat). I saw plenty of Fig trees growing on crevices and on the side of the road. Some were great tasting. I bet they are all pollinated otherwise how could the seed would get on a vertical stone wall if not carried by birds? Most are edible and blue / purplish skinned. 

In Olbia there was a large tree on the railroad near the train station, the locals would go past the no trespassing sign and get buckets of figs. 

They taste better than what you can buy at Wholefoods for $6 (small basket). 

This lead me to believe that the percentage of edible and palatable seed grown figs is higher than usually stated. 

I have some photos on Facebook maybe will do a Flickr album

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10154123423823066.1073742083.631078065&type=1&l=a52a6420e3

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10154118110038066.1073742082.631078065&type=1&l=99c0c99f26

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10154128831113066.1073742085.631078065&type=1&l=e3529cb811

 

I love that.

You have some really great photos there. 

And I agree - many of the random trees I came across throughout Italy that were in cracks and crevices weren't "wild" at all and were at least of decent quality. Not to say I'm that well travelled or an expert or anything of course. Still, I can't imagine someone sticking a cutting in the side of a cliff either, so it more than likely came from droppings.

That said, in a lot of these old towns and cities, historically the peasants would curate the figs in the area, that's to say they would keep the best ones and kill the duds. Maybe that contributed to the quality in some way.