How did this fig get to be so popular and spread everywhere if it's as bad as everyone makes it seem?  It reminds me of a chain restaurant that started out as a mom and pop operation that everyone loved but once the restaurant made it big and started opening locations all over the nation people started hating on it and saying that it's crap.  

There's a reason Red Lobster and Olive Garden are successful and there's a reason the Brown Turkey is as well.  Just because something is prolific doesn't mean it's bad.  In fact, it usually means the opposite or else it wouldn't have spread in the first place.

thearabicstudent,
There are several different cultivars that have been called and are being sold as "Brown Turkey".
There has been lots of previous discussions on the subject. The only one that has the bad rep. has been the California or "Improved" Brown Turkey, it is a large fig with an open eye that seems to need warm dry weather to ripen properly. If grown in a warm dry climate it seems to be a very good fig. I had a few ripen last year and they were good with a distinct fig flavor.

Most of the other figs called brown turkey are either a different "brown Turkey" cultivar (Southern or English which are very good) or some thing completely different. I personally have observed Magnolia, LSU Purple and Mission being sold as "Brown Turkey".

Olive garden in my personal opinion is horrible -ate there once thats all it took - what was i thinking ?
There is place i went to with wifes suggestion that give patrons a tour thru kitchen and do it the old fashion way ie: not 30 minute gravy.
Common brown turkey every newcomer should practice with it and most have had it in past.

I don't think Brown Turkey is being labeled as "horrible". I think as Pete pointed out, they are not all the same. I also think that if you are offered a hamburger while you're starving it will be the best burger you ever ate....until you are given one from Red Robin. Same goes for the figs, tastier varieties became available and made the Brown Turkey less appealing. Personally, I will be using mine for root stock next year.
I am with Martin, Olive Garden is one of the last places I would go to again!

Unreasonable prejudice toward a Common variety(define common as hardy, reliable, productive and easy to grow) is unexplainable. Without the brown turkey there would far fewer figs here in Texas. If the BT is a failure, why the hell is it EVERYWHERE? If you have the room plant a brown turkey. Find out for your self why it is so long enduring and widespread. Plus, I refuse to eat anything that is not tasty.

Wow! That was a pretty strong reaction to a calm discussion. I don't see the word failure anywhere. Personally I don't care for them but it's an individual thing. Mine will be root stock.

Brown turkey roots easily and is cheap.  If you have the climate for it it can be a good fig as you'll read numerous times here.  Of course you'll never know which BT you're getting until you try it.  :)

Jon got a plant labeled brown turkey and when it fruited it turned out to be an unknown so he renamed it Maryland Berry. 

I probably got the CA Brown Turkey and one Kadota turned out to be the same thing. Gotta love the big box stores. My climate is excellent for the variety and it still doesn't taste as good as my others. Root stock is the best option, I will give some of my rarer cuttings a head start.

Compare to McDonald's.  Is it good?  Depends on your definition.  It certainly is commonly available.

I thought I was buying a BT, but I have compared it to others in my area and I am pretty sure I ended up with a Celeste which was sold by the same store. If it is a BT they are sweet and delicious. I wouldn't worry too much about what "everyone says" find someone with a tree and try the fruit and if you like it ask for a cutting...

I wouldnt be into fig growing unless i had bought my brown turkey an gotten into this forum after ..
all in all i think they are worth growing

The ones I grew were California BT. They couldn't hold on the tree long enough to develope flavor before fruit flys and such would crawl up into it's giant gap and cause it to sour. At best for me, they tasted like water with the essence of fig added. Not worth my time, space, or water. Plus they had FMV enough to not be used for rootstock so they were passed on for others to play with.

On the otherside of the subject, I did buy a couple this year from WF which looked really good and were perfectly ripened. I just had to give them another try. They were grown in California.  They were quite big with tender skin, flesh was bright red and juicy but not viscous at all, they were very pleasant and refreshing. Almost a mild strawberry/fig flavor combo. I find myself wanting more like that, but there were only a few in their whole batch with that certain look and heft which compelled me to give them another try.  I would be happy to have a tree that made figs like those to add to the variety, but it didn't turn out that way for me.

It's ease of growing and rooting etc makes it a great fig for non gardeners to learn with. I've grown a couple different strains and have enjoyed them. No not a knock out dazzler for taste but it is super dependable and tasty enough to enjoy. There are a couple strains though that are really terrible for taste, but grow great so they make money for the nurseries and they tarnish the reputation of BT. There is a particular local BT tree which obviously is one of these strains. I tasted figs from it and actually spit them out so you do have to be careful. Grow them out and decide if they're worth keeping. Better yet source from an experienced grower.

I'm really tempted to give Texas Everbearing a try, some say it's BT and others disagree. Would love to have ripe figs from May on though.

You should be able to accomplish that with many other varieties 

Help me out Barry, which ones?

Grow early ripening figs like RDB and many that are grown in zone 6 and 7, MSVS is another example, Florea just popped in my head. Then grow late producing figs like Black Madeira, any of the Col de Dames, Sal's Corleone and many more. There are tons to choose from you must know this from reading this forum.

I don't know what would work best even after reading so much info on here. Reading that something is early or late doesn't really compute with me yet, I'm still a novice. I wasn't being facetious in asking I really want your opinion.
I do have most of the bases covered in your suggestions though. I'll have to wait and see if they can keep me in figs next year or perhaps the year after. Florea is not on my list because of the open eye and my location.
Thank you for taking the time to answer me.

Tami, I know you were asking a legitimate question, but with so many varieties to choose from it's really not an easy question to answer, at least not for me. There are no guarantees, you really just have to try a few and see how they perform for you at your location. As you read, note if they are early or late and how they are rated for taste and try to get a few based on those criteria. I see your weather wouldn't be good for open eye varieties so add that to your list of things to look for. If you get a few that aren't performing well for you, then give them away or toss them out and try others. I think an extended season is one very good reason to have a sizeable collection of trees, so just keep at it til you accomplish that. It will take a few years or longer, not easy to get the right varieties in a quick hurry. Good luck

For the record, and this is my honest opinion....Brown Turkey fig tree has been around for ages. And yes there are so many varieties or sport of Brown Turkey fig trees out there. Jason, aka SatelitteHead gave us his view of the Brown Turkey fig too. I also wrote here looking for the real brown turkey. Today, I have several different figs that were sold as Brown Turkey. Some are Brown Turkeys and some are another black fig. To me, local nursery Brown Turkeys are some of your best kept secrets. To me, Brown Turkeys are not bad. It's just not that flavorful as other figs. BUT some Brown Turkey sports are excellent!

For starters, I like some Brown Turkey figs. The true southeastern brown turkey figs are excellent. And, and, and, so is the Brown Turkey fig that has been caprified. Jon and I sat down at UCD last year and ate seveeral that were flat out amazing and rich! Again, they were caprified. I wish some Brown Turkey fig haters had the chance to taste these figs. It just might change their mind. Trips to UCD changed my entire view and perspective of figs. And the California Brown Turkey is excellent if caprified and picked when ripe. Trader Joes and other organic grocers get Black Mission and Brown Turkey figs from California. These figs MAY or MAY NOT taste good.....but people buy these figs.

It is true that nurseries around the US are selling unknown figs as brown turkey fig. Why? Because it is a very common name that THEY think will help the sell of the tree. And the internet is making the name also explode as a good fig. Local mom and pop nurseries get cuttings from local folks and the local folks may have a tree that they grew from a cutting they brought over with them. The local folks never had a name for the fig so the nursery slaps a name on the cutting because they know it grows well everywhere. I have 2 trees that were listed as Brown Turkeys but their leaf pattern showed otherwise.

Texas Everbearing is another fig that nurseries think is the same as Brow Turkey. They are not. I have them both side by side growing and I don't understand why people think they are. The figs are completely different. But, again, Brown Turkey figs have been around for ages. I have several friends who loves "Moma's" figs from here tree. When they bring me some to identify, guess what kind of fig it is? You guessed it, Southeastern Brown Turkey.

But, I don't think Brown Turkey figs are that bad. They just have a bad rap.


Some say the Improved Brown Turkey is the same as the California Brown Turkey. Last year a friend sent me his HUGE Improved Brown Turkey. Well, this year, that dude fruited and guess what? The figs were good. They were sweet and yes I do believe this tree is the same as the California Brown Turkey. BUT, it is not the same as Black Spanish or Black Jack.

Black Jack ( = Black Spanish) is not the same as Brown Turkey but they are lumped together because in general they both have mild flavored figs.  BT haters usually hate BJ/BS and lovers love both.

There is guy in eastern Richmond who is selling figs off his "Wild Turkey"  tree. He said it's a Brown Turkey, but the fruit is bigger and better tasting, than others. Go Figure!

I guess people don't always know what variety they have so Brown Turkey becomes the name that gets used for anything unknown.

From reading this thread it seems like with all the different strains of BT, and all of unknowns (and probably knowns) misrepresented by nurseries as BT, that the name Brown Turkey is almost meaningless.  I've always stayed away from Brown Turkey, in part because of the reputation of not being a top fig for flavor, but also because there are so many strains that choosing one would be overwhelming.

I have 2 BTs, one Grimo BT and one English BT from EL.  both are good tasting figs.