Good day, Jon and I spent 2 full days in the fig orchard at UC Davis this year.  It was hot but not unbearable.  We had plenty of water and other food and drink and of course FIGS!!!!   Ken Love was also there the same.  Ken and the other John had a good time harassing Howard the orchard manager.  I laughed so hard!  Below is a picture of us, I forget the other John's last name.  On the left is me, in the middle is Jon Verdick, on the right is John.  He also has a major interest in California fruit.  Here is a picture of us.  I got plenty of pictures that I will post in this thread.  I made an hour long video of Jon and I in the orchard.  Here are the first 2 videos posted on You Tube.  Turn your volume way up it you want to hear Jon.  This is my first time using this tiny brand new camera so some of the video is a little jumpy.  Its kinda hard to see that small screen and record at the same time.  But I think I did a good job.  I will be posting more videos on You tube.  First I have to slice and dice the videos up into 10 minute segments and then upload them to Youtube.  My wireless connection was too slow and I had to direct connect to my router to speed things up.  Hey, I'm learning!  All comments are welcome!  Enjoy my videos!

Here is the first video:
[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaVlv4-z-g8&feature=youtu.be[/video]

Here is the next 10 minutes of it:
[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whl8ElnnGmI[/video]

I'm still watching, and thank you for posting!!  Very nice video and information!

Suzi

Excellent videos! Wish I was there :-( Maybe some day. I would hate to eat a really terrific fig of a cultivar I have only to realize that it will only be that good with caprification though. Might ruin that cultivar for me.

Thank you. I just finished watching both. Very enjoyable. After hearing how diseased the trees were supposed to be, I am surprised by how large and healthy looking they are. Wish I could go help myself to the fruits. It's a shame to see so many go to waste.

Gina, That has been much of the point about FMV, there are innumerable large trees that make tons of figs every year, that have FMV, and it is not an issue. Dennis and I walked through many of the trees trying to find one that didn't have some sign of infection, and were unsuccessful.

Many of the trees that appear small and not thriving may be that way from several years ago when they had a "killer" freeze that did a lot of damage to many of the trees, which is still evident today.

Ugh, videos never work through F4F for me. Could someone please post a web address for this Ubuntu lover? Usually I jut go find them on Youtube but... Thanks

Fantastic videos!!! I did not realize that vastness of the fig orchard at UC Davis. thanks for sharing and being our eyes and taste tester out there!!!

Brent, they don't work on firefox for me either, but they do on Internet Explorer.  I hope you can figure a way to see them!  Worth it!
Suzi

Suzi,

I just checked the videos in my Firefox...They work perfectly! 

First video URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=IaVlv4-z-g8


Second:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=whl8ElnnGmI

Thanks Ruben.

Suzi- My everyday operating system (Ubuntu) is not supported to run Adobe Flash on this site. You might just need to allow F4F to run Flash in Firefox.

Dennis,
     Thanks for posting the videos from the UC Davis fig orchards.   I have enjoyed viewing the photos that you and others have posted in the past, but seeing the footage and listening to the narrative was very informative and enjoyable.  

Thanks,
Ingevald

From the size of those trees, I guess they have plenty of dormant cuttings to go around at pruning time, and I'll forever be grateful to UC Davis for their generous cutting offers.

One of my favorite things to do is sit, in the quiet of the morning, in my vineyard chair with a cup of coffee, and listen to the vines respond to the music of the drip system.  I can also observe my baby figs which are in the dappled shade of the vineyard canopy.  Those figs grow fast!  One day it's a growth tip.  Next day an emerging leaf!

Would love to have a fig orchard chair (treehouse?)!  All in time........

Suzi

Super job Dennis. With all them figs, why no ants? Do they put some kind of chemical down to keep them away? If so, what? Also very interested how they keep the weeds away in the rows of trees. I plan on planting many trees next spring in ground and am concerned with this. Their ground area in the rows looked great and since they have been doing this for many years, they would be the ones to ask. I have a weed grass that is very invasive and would like to know how to keep my rows clean. Thanks for the movies, i loved them.

luke

Great videos Dennis. Looking forward for other videos. Ants are smart why to climb the tree when you have enough figs on the ground.

Dennis,
Thank you for sharing these videos. Through the videos, I found some figs I may want to try.  Do you have more videos with other varieties?  Thank you.

Well I know many are not able to come and visit the orchard. So, I wanted to bring the orchard to them. I'm thankful for Jon. Without him, I would not be able to meet all these people and learn about figs. The video I recorded is 60 minutes long. I have to spend a half a day to cut and save the clips from the video then upload them.. Plus I have photos to down size upload too. So, I hope everyone enjoy the videos. cheers,

Great videos!  Sucrette has me wanting to move to So Cal.

Thank you for posting this.

No birds!!!  Why is that?  Did you ask?

Jo-Ann, the birds are there. However, we only saw and heard a few. There were only a few pecked figs on the trees too. I think the reason there were not any birds around in the fig orchard is that there is an over abundance of food for them there. There are mulberries, peaches, grapes, nectarines, etc.

Thanks Dennis for posting the video.
As a note to others after watching video 1 -when you open video 2 skip the first 4.50 of it as its the same as the first one.

I really enjoyed these two videos Dennis, that Sucrete looks like one amazing fig. It must be one heck of an experience being in that orchard. Will you be visiting the orchard again this year? If you do please document it. :)

Thanks for the video, next thing is to setup a tent and live there for the summer :)

Thanks for bumping this thread, Henry.  And great videos, Dennis!

Bump

[QUOTE=snaglpus]Well I know many are not able to come and visit the orchard. So, I wanted to bring the orchard to them. I'm thankful for Jon. Without him, I would not be able to meet all these people and learn about figs. The video I recorded is 60 minutes long. I have to spend a half a day to cut and save the clips from the video then upload them.. Plus I have photos to down size upload too. So, I hope everyone enjoy the videos. cheers, [/QUOTE]

Thank you for taking the time to share this with us!  :)

Great videos, Thank you. Its great to see so many beautiful trees and figs. I need to get out there next year and help them eat em. :).

bump....looking forward to this year!

Thank you for posting the videos.  A very enjoyable tour.

Dennis, your video inspired me so much, now, I need to make plans to take a trip myself and maybe few others from the area to pay those wonderful trees a visit. Did you have to apply for permission to be there? What are the rules if any?
Thank you very much for sharing your experience :)

Hello Aaron, contact Jon our administrator.  The orchard is not open for the general public.  Send Jon an email.  I've been there twice and there is such great peace just being there walking around the orchard.  It's a beautiful thing!  Jon is a great guy.  He's my pal, my friend and funny as all "GET-OUT". 

Going there and talking to Howard, Bernard, and the other John is just great!  They are a wealth of knowledge.  I have a lot of notes that I take on each fig when I visit the orchard.  Since I've been there, it has changed my view of figs in a totally different way!  This is why I don't fight and bid online for those rare beauties that everyone wants on their wish list.  What looks good to the naked eye in photos does not compare to a trip to eat and tasting real figs at UC Davis or visiting other fig nurseries around the USA. 

Figs in Southern California taste so different from the same common figs on the east coast.  Some folks don't know that.   The fig wasp caprifies all figs in callie whether they're common figs or not.  So, it's good to compare a caprified Brown Turkey to one that's not caprified in my back yard.  The flavor and taste is like night and day!  The Brown Turkey and Mission figs grow wild everywhere in California.  And in Charlotte, people from Callie move here (Charlotte) wanting to grow BT figs thinking they will taste the same as back home in Callie and they do not.  Today, I understand completely why Callie folks love the BT fig so much.  Caprification makes the BT one hard fig to beat in flavor in taste IMHO.  And on top of that....UCD has the BT and many others all in one huge orchard.

Yes Dennis, you are right about that of the taste the figs get from California sun. That was my point in past post regarding the secret to true fig taste and success of it. Climate, Climate, Climate. Instead I got bashed for it. (in case you missed the drama few days ago, LOL)
I totally hear ya ...

What's a great video....... And very nice fig tree....... Someday my dream will come true like the on in the video...... Regards, Ong Jakarta, Indonesia

Great video, thanks for posting and also bumping

Bump

Wishing I was at UCD!  Nothing but a lot of rain here in Charlotte!

Uc Davis visit is on my bucket list, well shoot I live in south La and never been to any of the Lsu orchards, I better get a move on! Awesome videos Dennis!

Weather has sure been nice here, Dennis, other than a 15 minute hail storm about 10 days ago