It’s amazing how figs can look and perform different depending on the climate, fertilization, or pruning practices. My English Brown Turkey is in its 4th year in ground. The brebas have always started to ripen around the 15th of August. They typically have an elongated shape, a weight of about 45 grams (although some can reach a weight of up to 120 gr), a brown skin and a red (or pinkish – purplish) interior.

This year they started ripening 1 month earlier. They are more plump, heavier (75 grams or more) and the interior is nothing like the previous years. The taste is also slightly different, although they still have this sweet and rich figgy flavor.

This year we had an unusual amount of rain. I also pinched the new growth after the 5th or 6th leaf. This pinching seems to be the reason for the earlier and heavier crop (other trees that weren’t pinched but have received the same amount of rain don’t ripen earlier or have bigger figs). The different color of the interior could be related to the high amount rain. Or the fact that these figs ripened earlier and had less hours of sun and summer heat. Who knows.

These differences in appearance show how difficult it can be to ID a fig. I think there is also still a lot to learn about how figs react to their environmental conditions.

EBT 2015:

EBT 2016: