yeah, they were pretty nice knives. I really miss one drop point hunter with spalted ash scales and a ton of top blade work. A small knife but just about perfect weight wise.
I also miss a kukri I traveled all over with and it was my self-defense knife as it passed as a machete and no one ever paid attention to it.

That's funny. When I was married and building a house I told my wife one of the bed rooms was going to be my rock room. It did not go over very well. I have rocks in boxes I haven't opened since my divorce in 2002. I think that speaks to the fact I may have too darn much stuff. I moved last year from a very large house to a small to medium sized one and I am buried in boxes full of skulls, rocks, fossils, too many geodes - many cut but not yet polished, etc.

I think I'm about to do an Ebay intensive dump. I opened a box the other day and "found" 3 1/2 silver tee services (silver plate I'm sure). The night before last I found 2 more of them and have no idea where they came from. Who drinks tea from these absurd things anyway?

Ok maybe back to fig stuff -- thx guys

Barry,
Although our friendship got dinged badly because of the fighting I do not and never have thought of you as a bum.
You have always been a generous and giving person. I'm glad to hear your kidney issue has improved.
MGG


Michael, We do not have a friendship
                

I'm glad to see Bass, Paully, Harvey, Barry and Snaglepus posting.  Besides them, Jon and Ingevald appear sometimes.    Those 7 may be the only ones left from the first 2 years.  A long time ago I posted that I was getting messages from several long time members about things that upset them.  None of them knew I was getting the same message from more than a few people.  They were all saying the same things.  So I posted a request for compassion on them.  It was met with hostility.  Some of them left after reading the replies, never to return.  I can't find the post or I'd link to it.

 That hostility caused some very wise and experienced people to leave.  If you want experienced people around, people who have grown more fig varieties longer and through more unusual circumstances than most, you have to be nice to them.  Say thank you.  If you do get cuttings send a little extra in PP - it's like taking them out for coffee or dessert.  For heaven's sake don't make them pay the PP fees if you're getting a great cutting for very little money.   

I've been growing figs a long time but people like Jon, Bass, Harvey, Dennis and many others have been growing far more varieties than I have and for longer.  People I mentioned in the first line above plus a few others not here are the ones I look up to as experts, whether they admit it or not.  :)

And there are a fair number of people who have only been growing figs a few years or only joined the forums a few years ago who have worked hard, tried new things and have become experts in their own right.  Unfortunately most of them are either gone or rare visitors.  I'm thinking of Charlie Little, AscPete, Art Jeffcoat, Greenfig, SCfigFanatic and a few others.

A little kindness goes a long way.

I echo rcantor's sentiments, if you appreciate a little kindness in your life then be kind in return, and even if you're an old grump like me at least try to be a polite old grump.

Yes, I am still here too! I often take a peek (aka., read) this F4F site;  but rarely post any more.

I have said all I had to say & more so; 'things' are getting somewhat (commercially) complex.

Pity, our old-timer fig-friend Herman is (completely) gone?!?
He is the source of the good MBVS fig which I helped him FIGure it out ...

P.S.,
Recently, I met a fig-guy that said something about fig-root-hardness (no winter tree protection) that did raise my eyebrows.
I will soon start a new thread about the subject for open discussion ...
[Edit: or maybe somewhat later -- I still need to meet/confirm/verify some things what the guy actually said.]

Certainly, George, please do post...We all need second opinions from experienced fig growers about certain controversial subjects.   

We the newbies, also are clueless about which cultivars are good in ground candidate in various zones...other than those Celeste, BT, and Hardy Chicago.  I understand that a lot of us grow them in pot, but we also have people who want to try different cultivars in ground because pots or a green house is not feasible.  It would be nice to have some one here put up a spreadsheet chart (or pinned topics in the Forum) as to which cultivars are known to survive in what zones.  This is by no means fool proof as the mother nature does have her ugly side sometimes, but we are looking for proven, high chance of in ground survivability.  The list does not have to be all inclusive, but would be nice to have those widely grown varieties. A case in point:  I was led to believe that DK is good for my Zone 8 climate according to the seller's info on the Internet.  So I ordered it knowing that it has a medium sized green fig with red pulp which I like for in ground planting.  Later on I realized that it is a St. Pedro type fig (only after I joined this forum in 5/2017) that the breba crop can be had in NWP zone 8 area or higher, but MAY NOT be great in my zone 8 area.  I had asked here if anyone has had good breba crop in the SE USA, but I have yet to get a definitive response....I'd think that the sellers' general info about suitability of a specific fig cultivar in different zones can be misleading....

Wow great to see you post again Georgi.
I copy Ingevald on new ideas and scientific links, etc. He's still around but busy with other projects - some fig related.
When I talked to Herman he said he was gone and not planning on returning.
I'm still in touch with SCfigFanatic as well.

One of the things that has happened is a number of members who rarely or never visit any longer have formed smaller groups of interest and communicate just with their small group interested in certain areas. For example I am very interested in intense production of "fruit". The Malaysians and Japanese are doing some amazing stuff. I'm in touch with a few others either setting up or researching the best ways to set up figs for producing those figs on a commercial scale and not in California.

I used to offer newbies free cuttings and (as Bob notes - Bob being rcantor) sometimes I was never even thanked. So cuttings and shipping sent - then just ignored. I did this for a couple years before I just quit.
I did make a few friends eventually but I remember sending a dozen really nice varieties to a member that never even answered my question about whether the figs arrived.

Again I do think this forum is much more mellow these days and I haven't seen a sniper in a month.

Bob as you and I came aboard about the same time we both have the same frame of reference. I wish I'd known you wanted Mavra Sika as it was the most expensive fig I ever bought and it failed to impress and is no longer a part of my orchard.

I have forget to thank people before, but usually it's because I'm busy sending stuff out to other people. You don't have to thank me, karma does. When I'm generous, generous things happen to me, I'll never stop, as karma truly works, and I'm better off when I'm generous. Yesterday Dan Foster sent me a free Maltese Beauty air layer and won't send me a bill for postage. I arranged to cut 12 cuttings for others yesterday also, 2 people on the other site who asked for Florea cuttings. I think I got the better deal as a MB sold yesterday for over 100 bucks on EBay, I kept getting outbid as I will not bid over 30 bucks for any fig. Karma took care of me, and I will pay it forward in the future.

Thank you for the kind words! 

George, I am glad to see you're back!  I remember those long post you made of all those figs you found in Malta years ago.  I have some of those today in my collection.  I downloaded and save those threads, posts and pictures of those figs.  And there were a lot of them!  But over time, the pictures I saved got corrupt and I had to remove them.  I am looking forward to more of you photos George.
 
George, I'm interested in seeing that hardiness chart.  Remember years ago when JV (our administrator) started a post of figs ripening your area?  Well, I downloaded every person's post and created a database of all that data!  I was able to sort the chart by hardiness and plant zone.  Back then, I was on the forum daily, morning noon and night!  I think I sill have that database.  The data went as far back as 2005 and 2006, I think.  So today, I can tell you just about exactly when a particular fig will ripen in my climate.  And using the database, I can tell you when that fig will ripen in your climate.  When the fights started years ago, I drifted away and like others would peek in from time to time.  I still like this forum.  JV is a dear personal friend of mine.

It did hurt when a bunch of old members left.  It was good to learn how they raised their figs.  Many--- I learned from.  After I pushed back on this form, I had 2 very bad health scares.  I mean real bad!  I only told one person on this forum about my second injury.  Between that major health scare, a new job, a 2 hour round trip work commute, and falling down my icy front porch steps injurying my lower back (some of you might remember that post-- a lot of my fig play time was drastically reduced.  I was bed ridden after that fall for 6 weeks!  That fall was so bad, I could not drive or let anything press my lower back while sitting for weeks.  Six weeks later, I had to travel for work.  A few months later, I had another major medical issue.  I was hospitalized for 2 days and was out of work another 4 months.  During those times, I just could not play in the dirt at all.  But I would chime in and read the posts in this forum.  I did not let my fig collection or my paw paw collection or my persimmon collection or my pom collection die.  I played around some in the yard but wasn't SUPPOSE TO lift anything over 3lbs.  But I did, once.  My wife caught me outside moving a pot and was furious.  She wouldn't talk to me for days!  I knew she was serious when she called our son over to help me move plants around the yard and greenhouse and made me stay indoors!  So those of you expecting air layers from me, now you know why I have not sent them yet!  (smile)  Sometimes, life gets in the way!
 
Today, my health is better.  I am 17lbs lighter and back to my old self.  Before my injuries and surgeries, I use to do P90X and other aerobic exercises a lot, plus work in the yard after a full day at work.  Losing weight wasn't an issue.  After my injuries and surgeries, I gained alot of weight and something had to give.  So, I promised my wife I would cut back on gardening, stop over exercising, changed my eating habits and exercise just a little.  My back isn't 100%.  That huge knot is still on my lower back.  I may have to have surgery.  It use to be grapefruit size. today is just half that.  But I don't let that stop my passion for growing fruits.  However, it has slowed me down a lot!   I am slowly getting rid of half of my fig collection and placing other fruits in the ground on my properties.   The wife and I have tossed around moving the Charlotte area.  However, I doubt we will move.  Especially since I planted 30 Paw paw trees down by the creek in March!

Robert (RCantor) Thank you for the kind and very wise words. Kindness and integrity go hand in hand when trading or selling, especially with a commodity that can take a couple years to discover if it is the real deal or not.

I believe i am an old timer but was never a figaholic because i grow a lot of other stuff. I still deal with a few old timers. This figforum to me is excellent enough to not deal with others. There were never any good reason for members to leave. Since i am not a frequent poster i did not understand what the hoopla was all about. I grow a ton of figtree's which could be improve a bit.

Hi, Dennis:  My heart felt sympathy to you after reading your post about your injury/health related issues in the past few years.  Glad you are recovering well, even if they were not 100%, but the alternative could be much worse.  

As you posted that you guys were collecting/stablishing a fig hardiness chart since 2006, and you kept a data base of that.  Would you mind to provide those info?  I think it can be a sticky in this forum for all of the newcomers or veterans to refer to.  Thanks.

I am fairly new to the forum and haven't posted much, I have been reading a lot of posts and trying to use the search function for many of my questions to try to limit posting repeated questions. I have been amazed at how many answers I find with such great detail. I just wanted to say thank you to everyone here and those who have contributed in the past to share their knowledge! 

Dennis, I actually think I had found the post your chart was on a few weeks ago, that must have taken a fair amount of time to put together. That work is still appreciated today, as I have looked at it a few times already.
Edit: I went back, I was wrong, it wasn't a chart for ripening/hardiness by zone, but what people said was their best for their zone. Still helpful but I don't think it was what you were referring to, sorry!

I learned to garden by helping my parents and I never realized how much I had picked up from them until I started to help my friends get into gardening. I feel like it is the same here, except I am now on the other side with all of you being the wiser ones with more experience. I am excited that I found this group and look forward to learning even more from everyone!

I’m not an “old timer” but joined this group a few years back when I just wanted suggestions for a few fig trees that would be good in my yard. Around two hundred fig trees later, thanks to these fig forums and my own enthusiasm, I’m too busy out in the yard watering my trees, up potting, moving them around and, best of all, eating the figs. This level of gardening takes a lot of time and cuts into computer time significantly. 

Look like I was asking something that has been done a few years back and not aware of it...Typical newbie behavior.

I have since updated the file that Dennis provided, with some modifications for more clarity, such as each zone under a certain region with its own column.  There are disclaimers at the bottom of the pdf file so people knows it is for reference only.  Any addition to this file is welcome.  I have put this file, along with the Chefs' taste comparison file in the pinned section of the Forum as well

https://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/show_single_post?pid=1300215590&postcount=308&forum=0

The files are also attached here for convenience as well.  Hope these will help those who are lost in the maze of fig land.