An interesting video clip on the  French popular variety - aka Bourjassote Noire,.. Parisiènne,..

some also call it Barnissote Noire.

You may already have seen it

http://www.tv5.org/cms/chaine-francophone/Revoir-nos-emissions/Epicerie-fine/Episodes/p-25513-La-figue.htm


Francisco

Francisco: Thanks for very nice link to the video.

Best,
Tam

That was very interesting, thank you. It did bring back nightmares of 3 years of high school french though.

Thank you Tam and Tami,

Sorry Tami, I thought that with just a bit of effort it would come back


All participants in the short film speak highly of the VS fig, the grower/picker, the chefs, the market men.

The market men also display separate boxes of 'figues sauvages'  (this translates to wild figs) and I would like to ask planteur123 or Chriss, if they see the video , what the sellers exactly  mean by that and what variety they think  they are.

Francisco

Francisco...thanks for that video...I definately got my "fig fix" for the day...I'm still woozy after seeing all those beautiful figs.

Hi
is Violete de soleils like the violetta?
it seems like the most favorite fig in france.
i like the gadget with whcih  he measures the sugar content of the fruit..

Francisco it reminds me of the sofeno preto by the shape of fruit and color in and out? 

Thanks for the video. Violette Sollies looks like a winning fig.

I enjoyed looking at the orchard. It was also interesting how much 'tumbling' the picked figs had to endure - tossed into baskets, poured into bins (the ones at the bottom must have quite a bit of weight on top of them), then poured again onto conveyor belts, more tumbling, washed, machine sorted for size, packed. It's a wonder they don't suffer significant bruising even when picked short of full ripeness.

I must say I wanted to taste one. :)  My own very young VS has only one fig on it. Hope it matures. It might here.

Neat Video! But it just doesn't seem fair that they don't have birds or varmints going after the figs on the trees. At about 5mins in, the guy is just picking figs and it looks ideal.

Hello, I see some enjoyed seeing the video. Thank you

Thought that we all need to know how others do and treat figs !
Images were very instructive and a good show of a small agro-industry meant to cultivate grow and bring to the market  the VS variety.

I am with you.. we never treat our figs that way ...?! ours is a diff set-up
Many times I read your lines and in between.. when someone reports a visit to a market here and there and how displayed figs look like, and ...with a bit of courage to go ahead and taste them.

Eli, no...  no, VS is much different. Near Violeta or better, like Violeta you have its sons and grandsons, Preto and Black Madeira. I am convinced that they all are the same cultivar
Sofêno Preto is another good black fig in between .. It is more flavored than VS but behind Violeta and Preto or BM.
I also found the sugar-meter very handy and much interesting and if it was to be used on the VS fig I am showing these images,the corresponding Brix would go skyhigh !

Gina, I share your thoughts, the figs are picked not 'ripe-soft' at all, to have them going through those jumps .. to finally be   scratched on the conveyor.
Growing on ground and with the right ammount of organic fertilizer and the bit of irrigation when needed, VS may develop quite large figs and a good deal of them on your area, not much diff from the southern France

Sophie, Birds are all over specially this year and I am convinced that they have them as well, but birds normally wait for the 'ripe-soft' figs.. they know when
they get more sugar ..it looks that the picker has a diff taste and with that guy picking figs in the orchard, birds have no luck !

Francisco

Great video, I really liked his pole to getting to the higher figs, so simple but so clever.

Francisco - Thanks for posting the video of Sollies .
I showed our Sollies and it indeed is a beautiful fig .

at 20:50 the pastry master pots some white cream on the dough before he puts the figs on?
what is the white cream all about?

any chefs here?

That was a cheese mixture.  Those were fig and cheese tarts. 

Francisco: Thanks for sharing. The 2 photos posted above are Violette de Solleis right? They look very nice and tasty. Can you please post a few more cut, uncut figs and leaf shapes of Violette de Solleis, please? Thanks.

Best,
Tam

Hi Tam,

Thank you for your comments on those cutaways of Violette de Solliès. They are in fact special, and unique!
See attached, the pictures you asked..
Will see if you have any questions (?!)

Francisco

Francisco: Thank you very much for your beautiful photos. Does it need pollination wasps? What does it taste like? I wonder where can I buy it. Does anyone here have Violette de Solleis for sale or trading. Thanks.

Best,
Tam

Tam,

This fig is entirely parthenocarpic and does not need any external pollination (wasp) to ripen.
However, having a caprifig nearby, the VS figs will show a diff look, like the two above cutaways..
they will get more weight , be bigger, the skin would crack and display FULL and juicy red pulps
Some of our fellow members in California could easily try this approach and find out the good results

May be you find a good soul willing to give/trade a couple of cuttings of VS.
I would happily send you cuttings but the LAWS both here and there prohibit any exchange .

Francisco

Francisco: Thank you very much. This afternoon I stopped by the Portuguese neighborhood near my house. Most of the houses have at least 6 fig trees. I met one gentleman and he told me that he was from the North Portugal and his 2 neighbors by the sides of his house came from the North Portugal. He came to the United States a few years ago. He told me that all of the fig trees in his property are belong to his father-in-law. He does not eat figs because he told me that most of the figs in Portugal have small worms inside the pulps. That was the main reason, why he does not like to eat figs even though he knows they are good for health. So, Francisco, please let me know what the gentleman told me is true in Portugal. If it is true, could it be the wasps carrying bacterial diseases which give rise to the small worms inside the figs? However, I do not see any small worm in the two above cutaway figs. Please let me know. Thanks for sharing.

Best,
Tam

Merci pour le video!

Tam, I am happy you live not too far from a neighborhood, apparently with a good number of figs and,( who knows ?), a source for some cuttings for your collection.

The owners must be aware of what varieties they have, and if those figs are there they must certainly be the very best and already acclimated to the local environment.

Your friend who commented on the the reasons why he does not eat figs, should also tell why almost everybody in his native land has figs in their backyards.., fields,..farms, and even took  with them that same habit when going and establishing themselves far away !?

Tam, the fig wasp in Portugal, is confined to the southern province, North of that province there are no fig wasps at all, and varieties growing there are of the Common type or San Pedro brebas.

Francisco

Francisco: Thanks for your comments and information. 

Best,
Tam

Tam, everything they say about this fig is true. I just had my second fig of this summer on my one year old tree.
I don't know if figs could get any better. The eye is tight and the skin is smooth and easy to peal. The inside is soft and has a deep complex berry flavor.
   

I wonder how they do in pots?

Eli,

They do fine !
It's an easy rooter and given the proper attention it grows and ripens nice figs.
In your zone they should behave 100%.

Francisco