Hi all ,

Looking to get rid of a bunch of fig trees , many known varieties . Many mature fruit producing trees .
Got into beekeeping this year in a big way and don't have the time to care for 100 fig trees anymore .
Pick up only , will not ship . 

Thanks ... John

http://www.marchespublics-mtl.com/marches/jean-talon/

Some lucky Canadians will be getting an early Christmas gift...;-)

Hi John..... I would be interested... I'll send you a PM..

Wow!  This is very generous of you John!!!
PM on its way.

Bump for a great offer.  John really knows his figs.  There will only be figs worth having.

Very nice offering, generous.

I will need till around the first week of October to go through the trees and see which 20 or so I will keep and make a list of the doubles and others .
Nelson and Chivas ( James ) have been very generous to me over the years and will have first pick .
Nelson lost a lot of great trees over the winter .
I will try to put a list together soon .

John

Thanks John!   
Take your time.   Hopefully we get some hot weather to help ripen some figs.
I admit that I can't wait to see the list of your extensive collection.... fingers crossed.

A list of the varieties I have , I will be keeping around 30 , not 100% sure which ones .


https://www.dropbox.com/s/t3ngzqsujqc53th/2014%20figs%20.tif?dl=0

John,

Those are invalid links.  They will only show up on your PC.  If you right-click the file within DropBox, you'll see "Share DropBox Link".  Then, you simply right-click and paste the link here.  Hope that helps.

Thanks Frank .
Just signed up , seems like a handy site .

John

bump

John, this is an impressive list of figs!  You are truly one of the few great fig collectors in Canada!  I am glad you are keeping a nice size manageable collection.  I wouldn't be surprised to see your list grow back after your generous giveaway.  Fig fever is hard to shake..LOL

If I am lucky enough to get some of your babies I guarantee that they will love to sink their roots in my sandy loam soil. 
The Lake Ontario lakeshore protected by the Niagara Escarpment is not California or the Mediterranean but vinifera grapes and cold tender fruit do great here and I have been growing in-ground figs for almost 20 years(since 95). 
I can't guarantee some of these varieties will successfully ripen fruit here but discovering that is part of the fun.  You can be sure that when fig ripen time arrives you will be sure to get an invite to come down and indulge.  

Hello John,

I am in Brampton and would love to have some of your leftovers since I'm just starting out.

Raffaele

Hey John, I'm visiting Toronto at the end of the month for Mom's 95th birthday. I'll ask my big bro if he is interested in one. Nice of you to offer. Frank

Hey Frank ,

Nice to hear from you .
Let me know by tomorrow if possible because by Saturday I will be giving them away .
Did NB make any figs for you this year ?
For me this year NB , Capelas , Norella , Italiano , MVSB , Florea , RDB ,and one of my new favs LSU Scotts Black are definitely nasty climate figs .
Oh and the absolute number one variety for us in the great white north is DESERT KING !!!!!!!
It ripens end of july beginning of August with great tasting figs .

John

John
That might have been a hard decision to part with something that you cared for over a long time.
But hopefully you will enjoy the changeover to Bee-keeping as much. Also, the fig population in North America is increasing but the bees population is said to be decreasing. So, hopefully your new endeavour may help.

A couple of times a few Desert King main crop fruits ripened here in Ottawa. I am not sure if the common bees are learning to pollinate !

John, thanks. Do you have an extra Desert King? My brother is actually looking for an early ripening fig. If not DK, what other figs ripen early in Toronto? The NB has produced some tasty figs for me, indeed, John. I and a slew of other Americans are grateful for your find.

I only have some small rooted cuttings that I rooted earlier in the summer , but I find this variety is a slow grower for me .
It takes about 2 or 3 years then it takes off , so they will take some time .
I had Gillette but the quality of fruit was not anywhere near DK .
So no another productive breba type I know of thats worth while .

john

Hey Akram ,

Unfortunately honeybees can't quite figure out how to pollinate figs . Maybe I should start a fig wasp apiary ... hmmm ???
The main thing is that I just have too many trees , and they take up too much of my time . They also do not get enough attention , sun , fertilizer , pruning , up potting etc . So they suffer and do not produce to their potential . 
I will not be transitioning out of figs completely , I just need to bring things into balance .
Its easy to get caught up with all the different varieties on offer , and once you get to know people like Nelson , Rafed and Chivas ( james ) and give them 1 variety they give you 4 great ones back so you find yourself gaining rather decreasing everytime you go to give something away .It doesn't take long till it gets out of control .
I hope to reduce down to 10 awesome varieties for our climate in the next year or 2 .

John

John, LSU Scott ' s Black ripens for you? Everyone has such good things to say about it. Being it is a late ripener I decided to not try it. I am trying hard keep the numbers down myself.

Hi Calvin ,

Scotts black really impressed me for a first year fig . it is 5 degrees c at nights , with plenty of rain lately and this tree is ripening figs perfectly 
with no cracks . It is productive and branches well too .

john

Thanks John. Can you spare one of your rooted cuttings of DK? Half the fun is in anticipation anyway. Strange offer for someone who is culling, but can I bring you anything up from Florida, sunshine and heat excluded.

I would be interested in seeing the list of what you decide to keep, I hope you share that with us.

Thanks to John for his kind gift!!
A great addition to my fig collection.  Now I can focus on growing all these fig varieties and hopefully reap some fig harvests:)
Here I am leaving John's place with a truckload of fig trees(big smile:)
Each tree was nicely labeled.  Over the next few days I will inventory and plan how best to grow them.

 

It is amazing to be on the receiving end of a kind gesture like this.  It inspires one to want to pass it on.

Over

I managed to give away around 30 fig trees yesterday ( and another 15 in the previous few days) and got to know a couple of local fig nuts a little better .
Both Joe ( Pino ) and Luzzo ( Ralph ) and his lovely wife got to try a Niagara Black fig off the mother tree . 
They both tried an Italiano fig too , which is another great variety for our climate . The previous night we 
had frost but the figs were still fine . This has been the worst year for figs here so if the figs were good this year then 
they are keepers for sure .
I also shared my first unk Dalmatian fig with Joe . Wow another great variety . It was actually a green fig with the deepest 
red colour I've seen in a fig and great flavour . I got this variety from Nelson20vt and he has posted about it previously . No cracking
or splitting , a great fig for here so far . It may be related to Dalmatie or the same .
I encourage Joe and Ralph to give their honest opinions on these varieties so that others can consider them for cold climates .

A link to Nelson's fig blog and the Dalmatia fig here ;
http://nelsonsfigs.blogspot.ca/2014_09_01_archive.html


John

John, I would like to thank you for your generosity and your warm welcome to your lovely home.  I also appreciated the knowledge you shared with me as well as explaining that while varieties are great, if they do not produce fruit in our climate, it doesn't make sense to have these type of trees. 

Both of the figs that I tried at your home are very nice tasting figs and they ripen nicely in our climate even though this summer has been the worst summer in a very long time.  I would definitely recommend these trees to Ontario fig enthusiasts.  You gave me an Italiano tree but I will definitely try to acquire a Niagara Black of my own.

Thanks very much!

Luzzu

Luzzu I will have some cuttings come fall, PM me.

Hey Ralph ,

Watch out for James ( Chivas ) he can be trouble .
Once I made the mistake of giving him a few cuttings , in return I received 4 huge super healthy plants of excellent very rare varieties .
He refused to even be reimbursed for shipping costs .
Rest assured that this guy deals in only the best of the best , and is not a collector but a real fig aficionado .
He is also an expert on fertilization . He made a Niagara black go from cuttings to fruiting the same season which takes me atleast 2 years .

John

I gave away pretty much all the trees I had extra of so far, so unfortunately that cannot be the case for now, although cuttings are not an issue.

John, as suggested in post #25, would you be able to post the list of varieties you decided to keep so far?
For us in zones 5 and 6 it gives great guidance!

Damir

Hey James ,

Your Pastellier is on its way thanks to Ralph ( Luzzu ) .
I Have reduced from 110 to 47 trees now , with a few multiples of Desert King and Niagara Black  and Italiano.
Unfortunately I didn't have the nerve to get to the 20 or 30 number I was hoping for but next year I will .
I  was able to pot up and root prune most of my trees today , which is amazing and puts me ahead of schedule .
I met a bunch of great people in the process and helped out a couple old friends .
Hopefully everyone enjoys their new trees , lots of cuttings should be available when pruning starts in the next couple weeks .
I will post a list of the varieties I decided to keep soon.

John

I appreciate your generosity John, also Ralph's, next year I just have to find space to plant it in ground, I'm sure I can find a space, maybe winter will make 1 for me.

I am hoping as well to have weeded out more varieties as well John, but this year things didn't ripen so I cannot say for sure which I want to keep and which I would like to give away.

Hi John, Just wondering as to which top 10 varieties you're keeping.