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Posturedoc

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Posted Reply with quote  #1 
This isn't your normal top 10 list. Over on the F4F Cuttings thread the following question was posed to Jon. I though it deserved its own thread.

Quote:
Originally Posted by drivewayfarmer
Jon ,
Do you have a top ten list of figs that "just don't get no respect"
That is the excellent ones that get passed over for the hot rare thing ?
Ones that make you say , "I can't believe these haven't been snapped up already" ?


I have 22 different figs, not all of which have fruited for me yet, so I'm not in a position to come up with 10 varieties and anyway, I doubt I'm qualified enough to develop a dissed fig list, though commonality and the breadth of distribution among us fig collectors will probably be the biggest single factor in which figs make such a list. All the same, here are a few names from my own varieties that may have a shot to make that list.

Hardy Chicago - Last season's HC's were among my top two for taste.
Lattarula/Italian Honey - Consistently productive, nutty, sweet and juicy for me
Brunswick/Magnolia - Large and figgy, but not too sweet for me
Celeste - Small sugar bombs of goodness.

My single favorite fig is VDB - though my first two not-quite-ripe fruits from Cole de Dame (UCD collection) suggest I'll be crowning a new king if I can get them to ripen fully - and judging from the number of posters here who have it, it's pretty common at this point. However, just naming it likely still causes those collectors without one to swoon with the the thought of adding it to their collections, so I can't add it to my list.

 
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Neil
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pitangadiego

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Posted Reply with quote  #2 
VdB/Vista/Negronne is my standard when measuring other figs. It was the one I set out to meet or beat when I wanted to add 3-4 to the 4-5 I had at the time. 800 varieties later, I want them all. There are still very good figs top be found, and I am quite serious about continuing to collect and to figure out a way to preserve the collection in a manner that it will continue to be accessible to the entire fig community.

Top 10? there isn't any such thing. Depends on climate, weather, season length, soil, etc.

Some are worth having even if you only get a few, but usually I would want a tree that was prolific.



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musillid

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Posted Reply with quote  #3 

This is a little off point, but I noticed that most of the fruit nurseries in the mail-order business who offer figs offer either Hardy Chicago or Brown Turkey, if they name a variety at all. With so many varieties out there, why are the offerings so limited?
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Dale
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Fredfig

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Posted Reply with quote  #4 

 @Dale....  That is why I am thankful for the members of this forum and Jon at Encanto!  Many great varieties are sold, traded and even freely given to

help spread this fruit tree and our "hobby"!!

  Just stay with this forum and you will be surprised at the friendship and knowledge available.   Fredfig
pitangadiego

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Posted Reply with quote  #5 
Dale,

A few reasons.

1) They only sell what they know and/or can get large quantities of.

2) They only sell retail the varieties that are wanted at the wholesale level. If you sell 10,000 trees for a commercial planting, you "make" extras so you will have the full; 10,000. Then you have to sell what is left over.

3) It is easier to stock 5 varieties than 200.

4) They produce what has sold in the past (often because it was all that was available for people to buy because it was all that they sold- so it is a self-fulfilling prophecy, sort of).

Check almost any nursery catalog for any type of plant: cherries, apples, asparagus, whatever, and they all have a few varieties of whatever plant they sell.

on the flip side, often the varieties that are sold have proven, over time, to be good varieties, If you have a good experience with their product, you will likely come back and order again. So they sell what is safe.
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musillid

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Posted Reply with quote  #6 
All good commercial reasons.

I recently saw an article in Nat'l Geo. relating how  may varieties of vegetables are now reduced from up to 400 to an average of about 80 each. Every time I go to the grocer I think what a tragedy it is we live in such a mono-culture. What other good things to eat are out there that just don't find their ways to the store?
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Ingevald

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Posted Reply with quote  #7 
This should probably be its own thread, but the last comment made me think of another very interesting film that can be seen on YouTube (see it now before the link disappears)    The film is Michal Pollan's Botany of Desire 
    Are we controlling nature or is nature controlling us? - that is the question that is explored in the four plant examples covered - The apple, the tulip, cannabis and the potato.   No figs, but the general principles apply.   
Posturedoc

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Posted Reply with quote  #8 
Well, I did a terrible job communicating my desire for this thread in the title I gave it, so I shouldn't be disappointed that the topic has wandered - or maybe lists of favorites have simply been done too often. Anyhow, I thought this one was different enough to generate some interest. I'm not looking for an all-time Top 10 Favorite Fig list; per drivewayfarmer's referenced post in my OP, what are some great figs, likely been there done that varieties all of us are familiar with like Hardy Chicago that maybe get overlooked these days in favor of the hot rare varieties?

I promise to let it go if little interest is generated after this post.
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james

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Posted Reply with quote  #9 
Thank you for the link, Ingevald.  I have been a fan of M. Pollan's material for a couple of years.  The information in his books give me a lot of food (pardon the pun) for thought.  Be that as it may, in keeping with Posturedoc's request, I'll throw in my 2 cents on the subject at hand.

In my opinion, 'Celeste' should be at (or very near) the top of the list.  It is a variety that I have never bought nor requested.  I have, however, six different 'Celeste' trees which mere mis-labeled in the nursery... and I am happy for the mistake.  My trees in Houston make a nice, bite-sized, little morsel of figgy sweetness.  The tree is healthy and productive despite being RKN+.  It produces when the environment makes it difficult for others to produce.   It has only split once, and that was while a tropical storm was dumping rain on it.  It may not be my best tasting fig, but it is really good.

I do my best to not lose sight of this variety while I am seeking out the current "Noire de Whatever is Popular".  Even still, I was kicking myself last week because I realized when I was planning what I was going to do this year near Austin, I had forgotten to go to Houston and air layer some limbs on my Celeste trees.

~james
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In containers - Littleton, CO (zone 5b)
In ground - N.E of Austin, TX (zone 8b) 

2016 Wish List:  Dārk Pōrtuguese, Grānthāms Royāl, Lātarolla, Negrettā, Nōire de Bārbentāne, Rockāway Green, Viōlet Sepōr, Viōlette Dāuphine.  Iranian figs are always welcome.
noss

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Posted Reply with quote  #10 
Hi James,

Does your Celeste drop its fruit in the heat?

I like your, "Noire de Whatever is Popular."  That's a good one.  :)

Celestes are delicious figs and it's upsetting to me that my favorite fig trees that I have drop most of their fruit in the heat.  Nothing I've done has stopped that and it was the worst last season.

Did you move to Austin?

Thanks,

Viv
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noss/a.k.a. Vivian Lafayette, LA Zone 9a Wish List: Col de Dame Blanc, Col de Dame Noir, Scott's Yellow, Tony's Brown Italian, any other fig that is good in the rain/humidity and has a real figgy flavor.
james

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Posted Reply with quote  #11 
Hi Noss,

Usually, the two 'Celeste' I have (the source for AA001 and BJS No. 2 on Jon's list) are my earliest to fruit.  It has ripened as early as April, but normally May into June.  So I don't know about fruit drop issues.

I don't know if I've "moved" to the Austin area or it's just a long-term, temporary stay, but I am growing in the ground here now. 

~james

p.s. the "Noire de..." is a poke at myself.  I find if I see a fig with "Noire" in the name I always want to find out more and usually want to get it.  It just sounds so mysterious.  N de Caromb has been on my every UCD request I've put in
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In containers - Littleton, CO (zone 5b)
In ground - N.E of Austin, TX (zone 8b) 

2016 Wish List:  Dārk Pōrtuguese, Grānthāms Royāl, Lātarolla, Negrettā, Nōire de Bārbentāne, Rockāway Green, Viōlet Sepōr, Viōlette Dāuphine.  Iranian figs are always welcome.
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