There is a local park (Harbor Park) nearby that has over 100 fig trees growing rampant through it. There is a large amount of wild life that distributes the fruit very well. The location is surrounded by urban areas, most likely farm or backyard fig trees were the source of the original seedlings. The park is located off the 110 freeway near San Pedro
https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ll=33.787102,-118.289495&spn=0.016585,0.020685&t=h&z=15

I want to trial the fruit, but I will have to fight the wild life for them.... If they are any good they will disappear quickly. I hope everyone enjoys.

Here are the pictures;

Tree#1



Tree #2




Tree#3




Tree#4



Tree#5

Awesome pics, I wish that was happening here where I live.
I'll be lucky to find anything at Lowe's besides a BT or a HC.
And that's pretty slim pick'ns if you ask me!
How depressing...... :(

THAT IS ABSOLUTLY AWESOME!!!
It is so unique, I would love to have a cutting from that grove.

Danny K
Marshall Tx

Very cool that you live near this grove. I'll bet it's a popular place when the figs are ripening. 

The area is not the best, the park has a lot of homeless living in it. So I am sure they enjoy the figs, as well as the migrant workers which wait for work at the edges of the park. The animals get the most of the bounty I would assume. Possums, racoons, squirrels, rats, feral cats, and birds are all over.

All kinds of wildlife! I was in SoCal last summer and would have had a wreck were I driving from swiveling my head to look at all the figs growing under overpasses, in cracks in the pavement and everywhere! What a place!

OK, now that you made us all jealous, go over there this winter, and take about 1500 cuttings.  We will be happy to pay shipping :-)))
Suzi

I'm with Suzi! Lol hahahahah 

Unknowns!!!! I love it

I don't mind taking cuttings and shipping them out. As long as everyone is willing to trial them and keep us updated on the quality of fruit and growth habit. From the looks of it, some of these figs were very prolific. Tree #4 was in a mostly shaded area and was producing large figs like crazy.

These fig trees were the easy to access ones, which I would most likely take some cuttings of.

If these grew from seeds wouldn't many need a pollinator wasp and many others would be male caprifigs?

True many of these must be caprifigs. Its not a problem for fruit in Southern, CA because the wasps are naturalized now. I guess I should open up some of the green figs and see whats inside.

I think the thing to do is taste them and take cuttings from the ones that are yummy.  Then send these out to the fig community.  Many of them may taste like crap.  With all the good known varieties out there, I wouldn't want to spend time growing a fig of totally unknown quality.

Heresy here, perhaps -  http://www.docstoc.com/docs/47005727/Invasive-fig-trees-(Ficus-carica)-in-the-riparian-forests-of-Californias-Central-Valley-Population-growth-community-impacts-and-eradication-efforts

Good point but not an issue for most of us  :)

Did not get a chance to taste figs from last year (due to timing and disappearing from animals). Anyway sometime in the next 3 weeks (during a weekend). I would like to go out to the fig forest and take cuttings before they emerge. I remember where the trees are and have photos to ID what I remember.

I would like to see if others in SoCal near Carson, CA would want to join to take cuttings and ID the trees. The trees would then be visited this summer to bag and taste the ripe fruit. We could then judge the taste of the figs and decide which ones of the cuttings are worth keeping.

Who is interested in fig cuttings from these trees? Me and another fig4fun member are going to collect cuttings of the trees this weekend. Need to get an idea of who is interested. I was initially going to take about 20 cuttings from about 7-10 trees. Trees that have figs on it now will be skipped over (because I believe these would be carp figs).

Anyway was going to tag and ID the trees, and come back in the summer. Taste test on the selected fig trees would be taken. It would then be updated on this thread in the summer time. From what I have seen, most of these fig trees are large green type. These are all wild seed germinated fig trees, so a good tree can be out there.

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"gene"

WOW, that's really close to my favorite food shop the LA area: La Española Meats

http://www.laespanolameats.com

33.796909,-118.291483

They make their own Spanish-styled chorizos and other cured meat products [husband is from Ohio, wife is from Valencia, Spain]

"For an aficionado of Spain’s cured meats, chorizo Bilbao, Butifarra Catalana, chorizo Pamplona, chorizo Cantimpalo, chorizo Soria, Salchichón de Vic, Sobrasada Mallorquina, Morcillas de Arroz, Morcillas de Cebolla, jamón Serrano, Lomo Embuchado, and much more can all be found at La Española Meats. As U.S. restrictions on the importation of meats have softened, the company has been selling Redondo Iglesias Jamón Serrano, Fermin Jamón Iberico and 5J Jamón Iberico de Bellota. The famed Black Hoofed Pig."

Yes, I know that's a shameless plug for a non-fig related business, but since several of you have Spanish spouses, and others of you just like Spanish cuisine....you might like to know about it [Our friend from Jerez loves this place]

Nice Pictures. Thanks for sharing.

Pattern and Process of Fig (Ficus carica) Invasion in a California Riparian Forest

Katherine A. Holmes, Steven E. Greco, and Alison M. Berry

Invasive Plant Science and Management January-March 2014 : Vol. 7, Issue 1, pg(s) 46- 58 https://doi.org/10.1614/IPSM-

Abstract

Invasive Figs... If only we could trade them for the Kudzu, Brazilian Pepper and Melaleuca we have in the southeast...