Here is a scan of Bill's Figs invitation card I just received.

If you live around the area, do NOT miss Sept 6th "Fig Fest #6",
I attended one last year (or was it 2 yrs ago?) and all was very, very enjoyable.
FF members Barry, Ricci and Donna were present too.
Also bring the spouse and kids along too - they will be impressed.
Seats were limited and all occupied for the talk.

Bill will also have a variety of nice fig plants for sale at a very reasonable price.


 

Yep Got one of those too.

I was there 2 years ago. Bill charges $45 for his large plants, I wouldn't call that inexpensive or reasonable. But some of his varieties are hard to find and worth it.

I paid $30 for many, all at least ~4' tall good specimens, and yes, clearing my fading memory, it was last year (2013!).

Heard nothing but good things about Bill's Figs gatherings and his success in growing hundreds of fig varieties in containers. Too bad, I'm down south; otherwise, I would attend.

I haven't been to an event yet - I'm going on 8/23 this year - but his plants are great and Bill is cool, too. Can't go the 6th - my kid's 5th birthday.

The tree price is $35, take it from me, I've bought more than one. They are nicely grown-out one-year old trees. Are they perhaps grafted G? Or maybe he prunes them to get the single stem tree. Anyhow, good trees and lots of them.

But forgetting the vegetative aspect of the Fest, let's move onto the reason that I will never miss this party, namely: THE FOOD.  Bill (and his extended family) roll out platter after platter of amazing, imaginative and delicious fig cuisine --  the dishes, too numerous to detail here. But, I can tell you, the feast ends with Fig Ice Cream, and they keep bringing it out by the platter. I ate it until I could eat no more*.

So, come on out, fig fanciers within driving distance. It's a fantastic Figgy Event.






* ok so I could have kept going but not without going public with my gluttony problem.

Currently, pending no sudden emergencies, I'll be attending Bill's Fig Fest this coming Saturday (Sept 6 th, 2014).
It also looks that I may also bring some family members along ...

Who's going?

We might go. I missed it last year because of a conflict.

I cant make it tomorrow, but if you are looking to buy a fig, I purchased a Negronne and a pot from Bill's last year and it is doing beautifully.
It was about a foot or so when I bought it and here it is. It is covered with fruit, but I'm not sure how many will ripen this year. Its been really hot here in NJ so many have a shot. 
Gorgeous plant, and supporting Bill's business is really well worth it
   

That's a good looking Negronne. We had similar results with one we bought from Bill.

Nice looking negronne, mine is so riddled with fmv. It should straighten out as it gets older.

Another One of Bills figs. A Nero. Don't think I'm getting ripe figs this year as well. Size of pots relative to root growth (just potted last year)? Dunno but the plant is amazing.

Myself Ricci (Jazzbass) and Donna (Chilly in Philly) will be there, hope to see some forum friends 

I hope to make it.  Not 100% sure, but I'm really gunna try.
Jim

Reminder!
Today Sept 6th 2014 is BillsFigs main event...
Think fresh ripe figs right from the tree with prosciutto!

I hope you guys have a good time today

Just got back from Bill's! Amazing job by he and his family to host so many people! Thank you!

Fig Pizza, fig cookies, fig ice cream amd figs in prosciutto. Yum yum. Great plants and figs.

Weather did not cooperate, rained as soon as we got there and so hot and humid today, that was rough for me, but the food was great! Bill had a tent and a pavilion set up so we could stay dry and of course a barbershop quartet performing for the crowd. Bill puts on a really nice party. Saw Gorgi and his lovely wife and Wrenchturner there 

Barry, thanks for the compliment...

My wife was fascinated with all Bill's fig setup.
I got myself into some trouble - first thing she asked me was:
"how come our figs are not as much productive?"
Simple dear; we have too many of them in a much smaller space...

Besides the sudden brief thunder storm/rain, I think it was a very successful fig-fest.
[Yeah, his many koi fish got wet too!]

The plentiful fig-food stuff was simply delicious & delicious.
I think that all was locally prepared by Bill's lovely wife and 3 daughters themselves.
That is a lot of work/expense to feed a 100+ fig-hungry-mob!

F4F members Ricci and Donna where also again present
(as was a newer member we met last year, sorry - and as predicted I forgot the name again).
We also met Jim (needaclone).

I bought 3 one-year-old figs (Macool , Sultane and Stella) for $30 each.

Here is a scan of 2014 fest that Bill handed out:
(oops, files larger than 1 Mb for this FF)
sooo, here are poorer quality pics;

 
 

That Panache Bill had was really a good looking tree.

Sounds like it was a blast. Any pictures of the party?

  I've known about Bill's Figs for about 4 years, but yesterday was the first time I finally got up there, thanks to this thread of Gorgi's.
  The Fig Fest itself was a very nice event.  Yes, the weather could have been better, but it could also have been worse.  At least there were some periods where the rain was just light or let up altogether.  I spent about 1/2 hour browsing through Bill's orchard, filled with huge, very productive trees.  A downpour chased me out of the orchard, so I think I only saw about 1/3 of it.  It is really worth a visit for any fig lover in the area.
  The size, health and productivity of Bill's trees is a good testament to his SIP/SWC containers and to the SIP/SWC approach in general.  It is really hard to argue with that level of success.
  The prepared food was great.  They were also "selling" fresh figs (i.e. giving away pints of fresh figs in exchange for a charity donation).  I'm not 100% sure, but I got a feeling they were picking whatever was ripe fresh off the trees.  I wasn't sure what to expect with the food situation so I didn't buy any fresh figs before they were out.  My mistake -- I really missed out on an opportunity to try a whole bunch of different figs!!!!
  I met some nice people while I was there.  I spent a lot of time talking to Carlos, who is a newbie fig fanatic in the making.  (He isn't a forum member yet, but will be soon.;-)  I had some pleasant conversations with Wrenchturner, Gorgi and his wife.  I think I saw BLB and JazzBass from a distance (I didn't know it at the time), but they left before I got a chance to make contact.
  Bill is giving a couple of classes on purning in Sept and Oct. With any luck I'll be able to make it up there to check out the rest of the orchard and maybe pick up another tree to match the nice 1-yr Sultane I picked up.
Jim