And I got to eat it, not the critters.
I saw the fig ripening on one of my first cuttings from last year in May.  The cutting had two shoots and I separated them and potted them in grow bags last July.  They were re-potted again into 4.5 gallon buckets some time in early fall.  They went dormant in November and were overwintered in the basement.  They woke up I think in March and went back outside as soon as the weather permitted.  One of the two I'm trying to espalier, in my own special way ;-)  This one was allowed to grow as it pleased, with the exception of occasional tip pruning/pinching.  The espaliered one has four figs on it, but it was a total surprise to see this one growing and ripening.
Here's the tree at 1 year and 3 months:
  I brought the plant in every night to make sure the critter didn't have a chance to steal it overnight.

Here's the fruit on the tree:
 
Here's the eye (sorry for the bad pic):
 
Here's the fruit and most of the different leaves:
 
(Drum roll, please)  Here's my first ever fig that I beat the critters to:
 
I don't know if this was totally fully ripe, but I saw the fruit flies circling and it was soft and had drooped.  There was no latex dripping after I picked it and the skin rubbed off when I touched it.  It was actually sweet and juicy.  Tasted kind of melony to me with a hint of what I can only describe as an extremely ripe plum taste.  The whole fig had the same soft texture, including the skin.  My only disappointment is that it was sooooooo small and there was only one.  Maybe the few other figlettes will ripen this year.  Otherwise, I'm looking forward to a few more next year.

Thanks to the forum for helping me identify this as a Hardy Chicago fig tree.  This forum has taught me quite a bit for which I am very grateful.  I even did my first air layered fig plant thanks to reading about it here.

very very nice,i first looked i said that is an italian letizia tree,i have them,some and most will say it is the same as chicago hardy,i say it's not i will pick letizia over h-c any day ,the way you can be sure is letizia new growth hardens to wood real quick,while h-c takes really long ,this is one of the diff i noticed from all my varieties it wins all out ,growth ,production,and taste ,the taste you describe matches it too. where did you get it from ??~congrats too,good job looks really healthy~

Congrats on your first of many! :)

Flavor will improve with age and proper care. Congratulations.

Hi, Chuck:
These came from a friend of a friend who's now a friend.  She has hers growing in a bush form.  She said it was there when she bought the place in '78.  She does no winter protection, the fig is planted under a huge shade tree, I don't think she worries about watering it, but it comes back every year and fruits for her.  She doesn't know the variety.  I saw her plant maybe a month ago and it was loaded with young figs.
I got a lot of cuttings this past fall, and their growth is all over the place.  I started some in May and a couple of them are four feet tall.  Some of the others in that batch have branched and aren't as tall, but they're over two feet tall.  I don't really know if two feet is considered a lot of growth in 3 1/2 months or not.  I can't say much about the wood hardening because that's all over the place too.  It seems those that I pinched the wood did harden faster than those that were just left to grow. 

Does your Letizia's figs grow bigger than the Hardy Chicago?

And thanks everyone for the congratulations.  This has been fun.  Now what to do for the winter?

Hey Cheryl, Congrats on your first Fig! Hope you have many more! ; )

[QUOTE=VeryNew2Figs]Hi, Chuck:
These came from a friend of a friend who's now a friend.  She has hers growing in a bush form.  She said it was there when she bought the place in '78.  She does no winter protection, the fig is planted under a huge shade tree, I don't think she worries about watering it, but it comes back every year and fruits for her.  She doesn't know the variety.  I saw her plant maybe a month ago and it was loaded with young figs.
I got a lot of cuttings this past fall, and their growth is all over the place.  I started some in May and a couple of them are four feet tall.  Some of the others in that batch have branched and aren't as tall, but they're over two feet tall.  I don't really know if two feet is considered a lot of growth in 3 1/2 months or not.  I can't say much about the wood hardening because that's all over the place too.  It seems those that I pinched the wood did harden faster than those that were just left to grow. 

Does your Letizia's figs grow bigger than the Hardy Chicago?[/QUOTE]~no letizia and hardy chicago figs are about equal in size and color inside and out ,but the more you tell me the more it sounds like my letizia ,mine was purchased from burpee nursery i will try to send a clip so you can read about it either way c-h is a good one to i like them both,but letizia is more vigerous for me~http://www.burpee.com/fruit/figs/fig-letizia-22275.html

Frankallen:  Thanks.  Would you believe it's 63 degrees here right now.  If figs need heat to ripen, I'm probably out of luck for this year for any more.  Kookie weather.

[QUOTE=VeryNew2Figs]Hi, Chuck:
These came from a friend of a friend who's now a friend.  She has hers growing in a bush form.  She said it was there when she bought the place in '78.  She does no winter protection, the fig is planted under a huge shade tree, I don't think she worries about watering it, but it comes back every year and fruits for her.  She doesn't know the variety.  I saw her plant maybe a month ago and it was loaded with young figs.
I got a lot of cuttings this past fall, and their growth is all over the place.  I started some in May and a couple of them are four feet tall.  Some of the others in that batch have branched and aren't as tall, but they're over two feet tall.  I don't really know if two feet is considered a lot of growth in 3 1/2 months or not.  I can't say much about the wood hardening because that's all over the place too.  It seems those that I pinched the wood did harden faster than those that were just left to grow. 

Does your Letizia's figs grow bigger than the Hardy Chicago?[/QUOTE]http://www.burpee.com/fruit/figs/fig-letizia-22275.html
~the only thing i notice here that doesn't seem right  is the fig picture, mine are almost black when ripe~

Congratulations Cheryl.
Enjoy your figs, you sure earned them.
Vito

Got another one I just saw coloring up this morning.
  It's a tan/brownish color. 
Here's the tree this one is coming from.  I'm trying to "espalier" it:  

And here's me trying to make sure I get this one.  The pot is too heavy to be dragging it inside:
 
Just a few more days.

Chuck:  I looked at the link you posted.  This does look like the Letizia.

[QUOTE=chucklikestofish]http://www.burpee.com/fruit/figs/fig-letizia-22275.html
~the only thing i notice here that doesn't seem right  is the fig picture, mine are almost black when ripe~[/QUOTE]~no they are same size i think ~

[QUOTE=chucklikestofish]http://www.burpee.com/fruit/figs/fig-letizia-22275.html
~the only thing i notice here that doesn't seem right  is the fig picture, mine are almost black when ripe~[/QUOTE]~about the same size cheryl
~

[QUOTE=VeryNew2Figs]And thanks everyone for the congratulations.  This has been fun.  Now what to do for the winter?[/QUOTE]~root cuttings in the winter cheryl ,it's fun and a great feeling of accomplishment ~  

Don't I know it.  I got totally carried away this past winter.  I've given away more than 25 baby trees from my winter cuttings/now baby trees, and I still have...so many more than that ;-)