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Verte

The other day (10/17) I picked 3 Verte figs.  It's been cold and fairly wet as they've been ripening, so it took a long time (and I'm not sure if they'd have come out with different taste if warmer ripening conditions).  The tree is a 2nd year tree, and in a pot.  It looks like I may get 7 or 8 to ripen (maybe), BUT it's lost some leaves so there aren't many leaves left to ripen them.  Guess we'll see.  The provenance of this tree is from Bass (in case you're keeping track of which kind of Verte this one is). The splitting that you see occurred on the day I picked them -- up until that day there had been no splits.  

This fig is different from any others I've grown.  These were more tart in flavor than other figs I've had.

Caveat:  Strange ripening conditions -- maybe ripens differently in better conditions.  <<edit addition>>Maybe it's not really "ripe", but since it split and I could see how bright red it was, I picked a few rather than waiting for them to sour because of splitting.  These were not soured in the way that other split figs have soured here.  But they were tart. <</edit addition>>

Flavor:  both sweet (not a lot) and tart (noticeably tart).  Tasted a little bit like Kiwi fruit.  Maybe a little like raspberry-lime, weighted toward lime).  Very strong (concentrated) flavor.

Texture:  Very nice and interesting texture.  Soft center, and a nicely crunchy outside (not tough, but crunchy). Not very juicy, but soft.

Overall:  Unique and interesting fig.  6.5 / 10.  

My son's comments:  "I like it.  Interesting and different, one of my favorites."  (i.e. his favorites)

Mike   central NY state, zone 5a

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I meant to add, that though there was a little bit of sweetness, it wasn't much... maybe 2.5 or 3 on a sweetness scale of 10.  The tartness of "lime/kiwi" flavor was however very strong and concentrated (and good).

Mike   central NY state, zone 5a

I have verte from EL. Looks identical. Figs ripened a few weeks ago in ideal weather were amazing. I do not know if it is the same variety.

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  • Tam

Very nice figs and photos, thanks for sharing.

Best,
Tam

Here are the pics of the third one.  (Picked and eaten same day... I just didn't get around to uploading these pics from the camera until now).


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Thanks for posting these Mike , the pulp is a great color! Keep updating this tree as it gets older please - would love to know if the taste changes with age.

Looks awsome. Thanks for the pictures.

Very nice figs and wonderful pictures
Thank you for sharing

Francisco

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  • Tam

Machael: Very nice ,deep red pulps and beautiful photos. I wonder if my one-gallon Strawberry fig tree from Almost Eden is the same as your Verte. Thanks for sharing.

Best,
Tam

Tam, I'm not sure if they're the same or not.  When you get some figs from your tree, take pics and post them.  That'll help to answer the implicit question.  Good luck with your tree Tam!

Mike   

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  • Tam

Thanks Mike.

Best,
Tam

Hi all,

This is one of the trees that died from winter kill this past year.  I kept the tree anyway, and kept the soil moist, just to see if it had a spark of life left.  (All this based on advice from so many members who've seen a tree "come back" and make new growth after appearing to be gone).  Alas, I think it's time to call it... this tree didn't make it.  

Too bad, as you can see it was a very nice tree.  (And also one of my son's favorite figs).

So, I have a request:  If anyone out there has a tree that you know is the variety of Verte that Bass has, would you be willing to send cuttings this fall?  I'll pay a reasonable amount for your efforts and shipping cost, of course.  Just for clarity, this is the Verte that Bass has distributed.  (And with a name like that, "green", there are lots of cultivars out there with the same or similar names).  If you can help me out with this, please send an email  (not a PM, rather an email please).  Thanks all!

Happy figging.

Mike   central NY state, zone 5a

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