A new season’s spoils.

A rupturing White Nicolina.

 

The fruit is pictured beside my first excel (a staggeringly delicious runt). The taste of the excel reminded me of a mix of bone dried figs, strawberry and a mellow (Manuka-like) honey. Ripened mid-January.



 

The fecund Blue Provence. It grows so eagerly here. I’m really looking forward to seeing the fruit develop; Not least to taste it, but also to verify that it is a Blue Province after all.

 

No breba this year. A couple of surprise defoliations, and, disappointingly, no fruit from either St. Dominique Violette. 

I'd promised some pictures of what I had initially thought was the White Nicolina. I'm near certain it's the Blue Provence despite having no fruit to confirm it. Splayed out, the leaves measure 24 by 21cm. Growth of a metre to boot.   



Looking inside a main crop White Nicolina. Artificial light.



Things are winding down now as the seasons change. There's one fig left.

I wasn't surprised to see the St. Dominique Violette in the 4-2-1 mix wilt less quickly than the other in the 1-1-1 mix. We've had some record high temperatures this year - record high averages too. Both handled it well. I've needed to water them every second or third day. Four days in a pinch.

The one (now two) year old St. Dominique Violette still suffers from rust and is visibly weaker. Besides treating it with copper and sulphur fungicides, it hasn't recieved any special care. All its fruit was small and spoiled as it ripened. It's disconcerting.

I look forward to the next season.

I fear I may've confused one fig for another. May've been the nursery. Bare rooted stock, you might recall.

I think I've confused a 'Blue Provence' with a 'White Nicolina' and vice versa.

See the breba fig I'd previously attributed to my Blue Provence.


Not really a 'squat pyriform shaped fruit with a violet skin showing prominent ribs'. Mabye the main crop will blush and pucker more convincingly. Certainly has an open eye, though. Little bit of juice, too.

Looking inside.


No 'blue tinged/purplish meat with red seeds' either. That said, it was soft and very sweet. Almost cloyingly so.

I'll take a couple of pictures of what I had initially thought was the White Nicolina. It's leaves are certainly large and ornamental - a closer fit with the description of the Blue Province.

Switched at birth mabye?

Brilliant looking pie!

I'd try the thinnest of smears on a pastry base. Add a teensy layer of crème patissière on top of that and you'll have me knocking at your door. Maybe try a thin browned butter crust instead of the pastry cream (try adapting the topping from the apple and raisin brown butter tart found halfway down this page). It's more of a tart though. I wouldn't know where to start with pies (i.e. deep dish American).

Dieseler, I hope your figs can hold a tune!

rafed. I live in Australia, so there's no possibility of sharing it. If it fruits, or even if it doesn't, I'll be sure to express what I make of it.

I couldn't agree more. A little bit of dissonance is a good thing, provided we don't play the man. Too much harmony and we'd all start mulching with fairy floss.

I have one fig, 4 months old. A St. Dominique Violette. I've a Blue Province and a White Nicolina on the way.  I'm in awe of the breadth of knowledge I find here and am grateful for those that sustain it. We can only benefit from a willingness to share.

Thanks!

By the way, did anyone read about the study that found the roots of young plants produced and reacted to sound? It wasn't Beethoven, though, lest anyone get any ideas.

How about a recipe for whoopee cakes?

Tapla, thankyou for the Whitcomb lead. I'm almighty ignorant when it comes to plants, so I had a ferret around for some of his literature. I didn't have much luck, but I did find a paper that helped me appreciate your sense of things.

Wright, A.N. (1998) Influence of Lime and Micronutrient Amendments on Growth of Containerized Landscape Trees Grown in Pine Bark (unpublished master's thesis). Faculty of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia. Retrieved from http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/public/etd-7598-11410/materials/anwthesis.pdf

I can't vouch for its veracity, but the short literature review does give me some perspective. The studies she references do seem to corroborate at least something of your understanding of pH. It's a fascinating business, this science.

But have a look at this.

I registered to acclaim DWD2's efforts to introduce something substantive. I don't think s/he is being vindictive.

Tapla, you're clearly well meaning, but you've not given proper attribution to the graphs you've just posted. I'd be grateful if you could help me find out. I can't make sense of them otherwise. At the very least, what does the green bar represent? Lovely plants, by the way.