I have a seven year old fig, not sure the variety, that I bought home the big box store, but I think it's a brown turkey. It's very productive, but we never gotten a good harvest as the rodents always get to them first, and now that we have a dog that likes to chase any moving thing, we have the best harvest this year.
It sounds like you've just solved a common dilemma we all face. One of these days I think we'll need to follow in your footsteps to keep a bit more of the harvest for ourselves as well!
I came here in hopes of learning how to grow my fig tree. I learned instead what they will taste like, how they need to be pruned and when and to use organza when I do get them. Thank you
Here in the inland valleys east of San Diego I used to have a large old fig tree of an unknown variety. The mature figs were light green and about the size of a baseball. They had lovely rose colored centers, were mildly astringent with a strong honey flavor, and I loved that they were not cloyingly sweet. We would pick them in five gallon bucketfuls, and the crows agreed with me they could have the top of the tree (at least 15 feet up) and I could have the bottom half, and even then we had lots of fruit drop because we couldn't eat them all. The Japanese beetles would get drunk on fermented figs and plow into people, walls, and pets. When I sold the home the new buyers agreed they would not cut down the tree, and it still stands.
Oh wow, I just love this story. It's amazing the rich history we have in this country with our farming roots. We're losing a lot of this history to modernization and growth, but I'm hopeful there's enough of us out there that want to pass these experiences on to another generation.
You should send out cuttings to collectors / those interested in keeping these unknown varieties alive. Baseball is a giant fig if I were you I would jump on Ourfigs forums and figBid and sell some cuttings, you would probably get a lot of interest.
You mentioned ants as a problem especially with the brown Turkey. I found a useful solution using tanglefoot around my brown turkey and a few others with larger eyes. I wrap the truck with gauze and grafting tape on top. Then paint the tanglefoot on top of the tape. It keeps all the crawling insects off for the season. Then unwrap once the fig season is over.
Great suggestion Linda! We have used the exact same process in the past with tree tanglefoot. We used flagging tape instead of gauze to the same effect.
I switched from organza bags to bird netting this year and have been pretty happy with the results so far. It was just too time consuming to bag each individual fig.
We know just how you feel there Jake. The only challenge we had with bird netting was the trees growing right through the netting because of the long harvesting season. Interesting side note, we have had very little bird pressure on these BM figs. It's surrounded by other varieties that even have birds chewing through the organza bags, but we have harvested a few dozen figs from this tree that were never even covered! Might be a fluke, but it's been that way this whole season.
Personally I gave up on bird netting years ago. No matter how I secured the netting birds managed to get under it and die before I could get to them and rescue them. For me it was too heartbreaking so the netting was retired. Or they would land on the branch and peck the fruit through the netting. But I live in the low Az desert and moisture for the birds comes at a premium to them. I tried to keep water bowls out for them but that's tough because they dry up so fast. As always what workes for one does not always work for others!
In my small garden orchard, I use to have 28 fruit trees, now I have 24 bc I removed a few & planted more veggies. I also hand cover each piece of fruit. But, I leave many uncovered for the birds. Bc I know my fruit is organic & healthy. So, I’ve accepted the fact that I harvest a maximum of 20-40% of my fruit (except for my persimmons that’s at 75%) & the rest is for all the other animals that know about my backyard orchard.
@@soniatriana9091 I don't mind sharing with the birds but they get to the figs before they are ripe and I get nothing. So during the winter I will make the tree smaller again and hopefully cover the tree. There were so many bird nests with babies I had to leave it alone.
I have all my fig tree of various varieties in containers to restrict their sizes because I have a new, smaller garden. It allows me to have more than I should haha. I look forward to a ton of delicious nutrition and the ability to share with friends.
I've seen a lot of folks growing figs in pots with very good success. Even up in the NE where the Winters would normally kill a fig, they can just bring the pots in when it gets too cold! Here's to good eats this season!
This has been our most productive fig year including the white fig that we bought from Reid based on your recommendation. The white fig is great in salads and the black jack, brown turkey and black mission are also great in salads but we love them in our homemade jam and thank you for sharing.
My opinion the black mission fig is probably one of the best there is, ours now is about six years old it’s about 12 foot higher about 30 foot diameter, very productive, early days try to cover it and at it etc. now it produces enough where there’s enough for the birds and for us, just every January throw about 3 to 4 bags of cow poop down on it it’s good to go, now some bad news are Gold Kist apricot from rsi, which we planted last fall was growing like a weed almost 10 foot tall this last storm snapped it right off at it’s graph point, I’m so sick, had it staked but I guess I should’ve had it stake multiple, Lost his whole growing season, now I have to start all over, Laveen,AZ
Hey Matthew. Agreed on that fig. They are really hard to beat for a "figgy" fig and they grow like gangbusters! Now onto your apricot, that really is a BUMMER! We know just how you feel as we lost both of our apricot trees the exact same way this past Spring (planted in the Fall as well). I know he has folks helping him graft these days, but I'm really not sure what is happening. I probably won't see him until Fall, but will need to make sure he's aware it's happening to several of us.
Whether figs or blueberries, one way to avoid bird problems is to grow plenty. Here in NC I don't prune my fig. Larger trees produce way more and resist frost damage far better. I planted my brown turkey fig 20 years ago. It is huge now. While I'm no fig expert, they are delicious and folks love them.
Also from AZ, I grew up being only familiar with black mission figs. They are so delicious and they are very prolific. My older sister lived on a mini farm with two gigantic black mission figs. She made preserved whole spiced figs for winter, because there were so many fresh figs for us, plus the birds, that we couldn't eat them all. The whole preserved figs were an amazing treat, as well; but nothing beats a fresh fig right off the tree
We have our black mission fig in a pot. We can't wait to plant it into the ground this fall! We have a common fig and it's doing great My dad and I have been enjoying our summer crop. We are absolutely fig fans.
Hey Aaron! It may not feel like it right now, but planting season is right around the corner! We have a couple to plant ourselves. Fig fans here, just like you and your pop!
@@oneein9183 The common fig was identified as a common black mission fig. So in the spring they are very sweet and Berry preserves like. During the summer they are a bit dryer and have a Cucumber / Peach tast! Fall figs are just as good as spring figs but seem to be larger in size!
I have several brown turkey fig trees, a black mission, a celeste, a desert king, and Italian everbearing. I must say they all taste fairly similar to me. I consider figs almost like 2 different fruits. Pick them early and they are tangy. Pick them more ripe and they lose their tang, taste much sweeter, and are more like "fig newton" dried fig flavor. Here in GA, it is tricky to eat them very ripe in my experience. Birds aren't my issue but rather humidity/moisture. They rot (ferment really) easily, and fruit flies can be an issue. We average a windspeed of -4 mph (joke but technically not incorrect) and the figs don't dry and the fruit flies don't blow away. To pick them, I am experimenting with a leaf blower first to blow away the masses of bees, wasps and fruit flies.
I feel your pain here in east Alabama. A friend invited us over to pick some figs and the yellow jackets wouldn't allow us anywhere near the figs. We finally gave up. Bees 1, Us 0.
Love it! I have a new black mission fig tree. Gotta go find your fig pruning video and watch it. The rabbits chewed mine down to nubs and luckily it bounced back, but it's tiny tiny now. Starting from even smaller now. Can't wait til it really gets going and gives me fruit!
Hey Lucy! We know just what it's like to have rabbits terrorize young trees. Even as older trees they'll nibble at the bark, but it's really hard on the young ones. We put 3' hardware cloth in a ring around newly planted trees to give them at least a year without being chewed on. The good news is, these figs grow like crazy, so it should rebound in no time!
Excellent another video on figs, Water is coming from mouth to observe of eating , Hope one day I will have figs trees, I have dry black mission fig, Eating almost every day
Not sure how else to describe that taste. We've heard other people refer to them the same way and it seems to fit the taste if you've tried a few different types.
I have to agree, the Black Mission Fig is by far my favorite fig. There are a few more that are ok, but not as enjoyable as the Black Mission fig. Thanks for sharing.
Hey Joseph! Glad we're not the only ones who enjoy this one so much. I think this is one of those tried and true figs that some people take for granted. Kind of like chocolate or vanilla ice cream!
Fig leaves are very good for removing sugar in the blood. They are dried in the shade, and then tea is made. I have the same fig, and I can say that it is the best. Greetings from R. Macedonia.
Black Mission is my favorite fig. The tree is so hardy and can grow huge. I let my tree get out of hand and have been bringing the size down over the last 3 years. The big leaves cover the entire tree. Still working on fighting the birds that love to live in that tree.
I’m getting my first significant harvest of my Unknown pastiliere on season two and it is an amazing berry flavor. I don’t know much about flavors of figs but the sweetness combined with a slight tart berry flavor is excellent!
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Check out either the video by Korean Gardener "This is the best method I've found for rooting fig cuttings" or see the multiple videos by Plant Fanatics on the sand method. I have 20/20 fig cuttings successfully rooted using Korean Gardener's method and the other one looks great too I just have no reason to test it out right now :)
Oh my gosh, Black Missions are the standard by which all black figs should be judged! I'd grow one myself, if the tree weren't so notoriously vigorous...I'd never be able to keep it under control in my small back yard. Thank you for describing the flavor so well. A lot of fig catalog descriptions want to say every black fig has a berry flavor, but we know that's just not the case here.
Glad we're not the only ones that feel this way! Sometimes the gold standard is that way for a reason and this is definitely the gold standard for figs!
Good evening !!! Considering the climate you live in, you should definitely get one of the varieties that are good for drying, there are quite known greek varieties of this kind (tsapela figs, and kimis figs) if you can find any of them over the US, try to plant one and you wont regret it, we are drying them so we can eat figs all year around, and they are also used in many recipies. Ofcourse they also can be eaten fresh from the tree. One fun fact about Black mission figs, In greece (i dont know how many years ago) someone brought the first SDM figs(sultane de marabout) and he called it "black mission", and now everyone has sultane de marabout and calls it black mission, im not even sure if the original "black mission" exist in Greece right now, even farmers are using the name black mission for sultane de marabout...
I have to admit, the brown turkey is hard to beat from an overall production standpoint. We prefer the taste of the Black Mission, but they're both solid choices.
The first _real_ fig I tried, which was just last season, was a California Mission Fig, so I guess I started right at the top. Several dozen hours of research later, I bought 2 LSU Purples, the reason being that they were planted on the other side of the continent. While you're correct at the very end of your video _for fig trees planted here in the Southwest_ , you couldn't be more wrong for the Southeast. I haven't yet eaten an LSU Purple--but while it might not be in the same league as CA Mission, it's the only one (of which I'm aware) that nails the trifecta: disease resistance, split resistance, and nematode resistance--none of which we have to worry about out here. If you'd like to discuss affiliation, reach out, my friend. Excellent video! Very Best Regards, Tom Scott Author ● Speaker ● World's Leading Expert on the Corrupt U.S. Legal System _Our American Injustice System_ _Stack the Legal Odds in Your Favor_
Sounds like you've found the right one for you out that way. We have a few others that do well, but this one is hard to beat for outright production in the Southwest.
I'm in SC, I had a brown Turkey I believe, that got about 20 feet tall, before it died. Couldn't even reach the top with a ladder, I put compost and 3 dead squirrels in the hole, when I planted it. Got a couple more now and might get a black mission. Have trouble with the large, fig beetles/.June bug.
@@EdgeofNowhereFarmprobably too much water, area got flooded out a couple of times,possibly neighbor who poured round up on couple of my muscadine vines could have done something, but I don't think so, usually round up wilts all the leaves down within a day. That old bastard is dead now.
I have four varieties, and my favorite is the Chicago hardy. It's a great producer, has a unique flavor, and even if I get an unusually cold winter and it "dies" to the ground, it will fruit the following summer. I've had several mild winters in row in zone 7 Maryland, so the tree has been growing well and the yields increase every year. If I could only keep the wasps and hornets away!
Chicago Hardy seems to be the one that is the most cold hardy, at least from what I've seen. As long as you're seeing strong growth and it comes back each year, I suppose that's all that matters. I'll remember your story when folks ask us for a cold hardy suggestion. Thank you for the comment!
I respectfully disagree with you on BM being the gold standard of figs 😊… VDB and Panache that you have are considered much higher quality in the flavor department. And then a lot of fig collectors will say that Black Madeira and Figo Preto are close to the best, if not the best. Other very high quality figs include Adriatic JH, I-258, Strawberry Verte, Colnel Littman and Red Lebanese BV. BM is productive and vigorous, so from that perspective, and if you are selling to average customers who don’t have very refined fig palate it probably does the job.
Hey Ahmad. We're fans of the VDB and Panache as well and we can only speak from our experience with the 9 varieties we've grown and tried. Still working on our collection!
I agree. Black Madeira is probably the best tasting fig and it is easy to propagate because as you mentioned, it's really vigorous. However, in my climate (Canada), its fruit do not ripen unless you extend your season by waking them up much earlier indoors.
Hey Nate! Glad to hear it. It's funny, because everyone has their own opinions and favorites, but it's really hard to beat something as tried and true as this one!
Hello in India!! I'm glad you are enjoying the content. Very similar climate to yours here in Arizona. Land has become very expensive recently. An acre of land around where we live is going for as much as $100k US. More than quadruple the amount we purchased ours for in 2018.
You do realize that more than half of the U. S. is zone 6 or lower, right? The black mission fig is widely available as dried fruit in grocery stores in the Appalachian Mountains where I live. I keep a package in my truck and enjoy them almost daily. But my area is zone 6B. The Black Mission fig tree will never bear ripe fruit as an in ground plant here. I love fresh figs and currently have a Brown Turkey and a Celeste fig tree in my backyard. I scarcely get a single ripe fig from the Brown Turkey and have cut the tree back to the ground several times, but it always comes back vigorously and is covered with figs. And I've recently learned some techniques that may lead to my actually getting an early enough harvest from it. The Celeste, however, is always covered in figs and I typically get to enjoy a dozen or two fresh fruits before the first significant frost. This year, I plan to try a Chicago Hardy fig in my quest for an earlier, more abundant harvest.
Glad you're having success with those varieties and yes, I do realize a lot of the country is in a lower growing zone than we are here. We all have our challenges, but it's the beauty of gardening. Adapting where you can and seeing what works for each of us. You mentioned a technique on getting an earlier harvest, curious as to what that is!
I grafted black mission to my big caprifig tree a couple years ago and it was loaded with big plump figs this year for the first time. The birds ate them all…… We are not living at home due to a surprise remodel (bathroom fire) and we don’t go out there every day, so the birds have been reaping the rewards from my figs, stone fruit and blackberries and raspberries this year. Having a trailer delivered to the property to live in during construction so hopefully now I can pay better attention to the late season fruit and get something this year, lol.
Oh man, Jared sorry to hear that brother. It's never a good thing when you have something happen to your house, but a fire is just downright scary! I'm glad you guys are ok and rolling with the punches. The fruit will be there next year!
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm thanks Duane, I appreciate that. It was mostly smoke damage to the house although the bathroom was a total loss so it’s being gutted and redone along with our floors and ceilings and a few other things. I’m thankful we were actually in Los Angeles at universal studios for my son’s birthday when it happened and we even took my dog so nobody was home and no one was hurt. Bright side is that we are getting an insurance sponsored remodel, lol. House is gonna be better than when we bought it. I guess you always gotta look for the upside of bad situations.
@@jaredmccutcheon5496 wow, talk about diving providence! I agree with you on looking on the bright side. If you don't do that with situations like this, life can get pretty bleak!
Great video as always :) I see a lot of smoothie recipes call for bananas, but I'm allergic. You mentioned the flavor being similar to a banana, so I'm wondering if I could substitute it for these figs in recipes? I tried my first ever fig a couple years ago (brown turkey) and I remember them having a similar smooth, sticky texture.
We're fans of smoothies as well and have them several times a week. We prefer to use bananas, but you could definitely swap figs for bananas. Just be cautious with them as they do have some acidic qualities to them and a little goes a LONG way!
Cool, black mission is your classic archetype fig, tasty. I’ve just heard of Chicago hardy and apparently it can die back in winter and still produce the following year, interesting. I’m in zone 6 Toronto, so it would be interesting to not have to overwinter them.
Hey Marilyn. We do plan on selling fresh figs in the future once the trees are producing well. That is done through our customer email list that you can join through our website if you're interested. I'll link that for you here; www.edgeofnowherefarm.com/
Hi there. I came across your site and found your video interesting. I'm central Florida. I just recently purchased a Turkey Fig Tree, which my husband and I planted just the other day. Its about four feet currently. I'm hoping it'll do well and produce a good load of figs in due time. I am a "bit" concerned by a couple of things either you mentioned or were mentioned here in the comments. You mentioned about the "open eye" with the Turkey Figs. I'd hate for ants (and this area has lots), to invade the fruit. I know when my dad planted a fig tree (not sure what variety), but it produced a massive amount by the second year. Granted, birds would occasionally come by and peck at some, but we had so many, it hardly mattered. This tree, down here in Florida which I planted in his memory, will be in the hopes of a similar amount of figs. Another, probably bigger concern for me is ATTRACTING Rodents! I certainly do NOT want that. Any suggestions? Very appreciative. Thank you!
Hey there! First off, congrats on that new tree. Turkey fig trees are VERY productive for us here in AZ and I can only imagine what kind of production you'll see with the extra humidity in FL. The open eye on figs can cause issues with bugs and ants would be one of them. The one thing we've found that works well for those is a product called Tree Tanglefoot. When applied to the trunk (over flagging tape or something similar) will keep the ants from getting up into the tree and in the fruit. Other bugs can still get in though! As for rodents, the only thing you can effectively do for them is to keep the area around the tree free of fallen fruit. That will at least deter them from hanging around and searching for more fruit.
I have a Peters Honey fig and it has barely grown in the 4 years I have had it here. It produces a bunch of figs but they are small and never fully develop. Not sure if doesn't like Arizona or not.
Ah yes, the Peter's Honey Fig. We have had our fair share of unripe figs from this tree as well, however it does grow really well for us, so I'm not sure what's going on there. What is your watering and irrigation regimen? Also, ground cover, etc?
I stay in Allen, TX. I have planted a black mission fig tree in my backyard which is now around 4yrs old. Unfortunately, it has not produced any fruits yet. No disease, regularly fertilizing it. Can you suggest any additional steps to take to make it fruit ? TIA
Hmm, you should be seeing success with this variety in Allen, TX. A 4 year old tree should be producing for you as long as you're seeing solid growth otherwise (at 4 years old it should be a good size tree/bush). Assuming the nursery was correct in the variety, the only thing I would say you'll want to try is pruning it back a bit further. What have you been doing as far as dormant season pruning?
Something to note about the fig newton comment. Fig newtons are made with a fig paste which is a blend of Black Mission, Calimyrna, and Adriatic figs. I would imagine the taste of the newtons is a bit different than eating fresh figs purely because they are dried and processed with vanilla and water to get the consistency necessary for the fig paste used in the fig newtons. So, like the difference between eating raisins vs grapes or prunes vs plums. Dried vs fresh figs will taste different. There is a recipe on the supplier of the fig paste; Valley Fig Growers in California. Of course they dont really give you the full Fig Newton paste recipe, but it gives you an idea of where the flavor of a fig newton comes from.
I guess that’s a good fig for many parts of the world. A friend of mine living in Chicago said whenever he comes back home to Turkey, he eats tons of figs because figs in other countries are just not figs to him :) I guess here in Turkey, we’re quite lucky about figs. I grafted 2 new types of figs today, in my modest orchard in Bursa. They are huge, super soft and juicy. One is Bursa white, a sagging white fig in shape of a long water drop, with a slight crack in the bottom, dripping like honey. Another one is a huge purple one with vibrant magenta inside, large crack in the bottom. Tastes a bit like tardy caramel when fully ripe. I guess it’s from Denizli area. The one in your video has a shape quite new to me. Never seen such a jujube-like fig shape before. Are they good when dried? Have you ever tried it?
Wow, the figs you're describing sound fantastic! I imagine your climate plays a large role in the amount of moisture your figs have. That's our challenge here with very dry weather year round. This fig is very good dried, in fact it's the most common dried fig we can usually find in grocery stores. Funny, the Brown Turkey fig is also commonly used for dried figs here as well!
I have these, and the ripe ones start to crack. The ones you showed weren’t peak ripe yet. Also, you can let them ripen and then dry on the tree, and they become almost like jam.
We love figs. Very hardy plant. Where we are, it’s a bit tough to grow but we still get fruit. I don’t think to it’s full potential though. We live in the rainiest city in the United States. Nonetheless, my kids eat those things like candy. That’s if the birds don’t get em first🤦🏽♂️🥴
Glad to hear there are more of us fig lovers out there and more importantly, your youngsters getting a taste for these as well. One of the things you may have that we don't is a lot more honey in your figs. Our dry weather helps the trees to grow large and produce a lot of fruit, but on the flip side they are usually much more dry than other areas of the country.
Not my favorite fig for flavor. Pretty low on that list. It's also the only one you can readily buy in stores. Growing something you can't buy is appealing to me
I can appreciate that feeling. For us here in AZ, we rarely see a fig in the store and if you do, they are full of mold. Here's to better harvests and sweeter figs!
I can see why this is considered the gold standard for fig growers. There are better figs out there, but this has it all. Strong growth, heavy production and wonderful tasting fruit.
I’ve always had more problems with ants than birds on my figs. Mixing some cinnamon in water and painting the stems helps a bit but impractical for larger scale
Have you tried the maize/corn method? It really works on european ants, this tutorial is spoken in Italian but the process shown is understandable by anyone czcams.com/video/6uA3e4Gpqkg/video.html
our Black Mission is very good, but birds are an issue. but not with our Green Ischia. with adequate rainfall (this year severe drought) its fairly juicy and tastes like honey.
Great video. I have black fig trees, all clones but I have no idea it's type. It looks like yours. I tell if they are ready if they visually hang and are soft to touch. Picking upwards, if they fall into my hand, tells me they are perfect. In reality I eat far too many figs and have to watch for fructose toxicity...(I can tell because my skin, head gets itchy). For this reason I don't mind a few birds. I am feeding handfuls to the land turtles and chickens anyway. I leave one or two high branches for the birds and I remove the lower branch figs constantly throughout the day... About every time I go outside because they are close to the door. I have girosolillos (wild sunflowers) nearby. The birds are more interested in the wild sunflowers than the figs. These flowers also protect my jujubes when they are ripe.
I know just how you feel with that fructose toxicity. On top of that, figs have a bit of toxicity on their own, so you really have to eat them sparingly. You caught my attention at Jujube. What varieties are you growing and when are they usually ripe for you?
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm don't know the type of jujubes. In Mexico people share fruit when they visit and I plant the seeds. Sometimes I take cuttings from trees hanging out in the streets. At the minute the jujubes are starting to turn yellowish. No brown spots yet. I will start eating them like tasteless apples in about a week. I'll start adding them to saurcraut very soon. They will be very sweet in about a month.
The biggest issue for you there will be any heavy frosts. Most figs are good down to about zone 6-7, but the Chicago Hardy may be your best option and it is listed down to about zone 5. Either way you may need to bring them in on heavy frost nights, so potting may be needed.
do the organza bags help keep crap out of the brown turkey? I have the same issue stuff crawls throught the eye and spoils the fruit before its rippened. By the time i pick them at ripe they have turned into vinegar
Hey Brendan. That's hit or miss with BT figs. Unless you synch them up real tight you can still get critters in there. It does help, but it's not 100%.
Hey Steven. Right now these trees are getting 60 gallons once/week. They struggle a little on that, but we're holding to it as long as they don't stress too much.
Hey Kathryn! We are not growing the Celeste here, but most figs crave similar things. They love hot summers, but dry air can make the fruit more dry (like you're seeing with ours). They need chill hours, but not too cold or they can be killed. You probably won't have a need to irrigate, but they do need regular fertilizing. They respond well to pruning, but with your colder weather you may need to be careful pruning as much as we do here. AZ is a near ideal climate for figs, so they grow very rapidly. You may find yours are a bit slower growing.
Based on my experience, I have a definite opinion on how an established fig should be watered: not at all. Figs just don't do well when they're watered, don't produce much, don't grow well, fruit is flavorless. I used to water my figs every ten days in the summer (here in the Mediterranean climate of California) but they're doing much better now in all respects in the four years since I stopped watering them. Looks like your figs are doing well in the desert. Please give your thoughts regarding fig watering as there is very little information on this topic.
Ah yes, I (Duane) am from California and have to admit, it was a steep learning curve using that experience here in the desert. We've been growing figs for about 9 years here now and have found that regular irrigation is critical to the health and production of our trees. I assume it's the complete and total lack of humidity (very common to be below 10%) that causes this. The months of June and early July are especially critical as our hot/dry weather will literally kill mature trees and at the very least cause desiccation of nearly all of the leaves, and much, if not all, of the fruit will drop. We learned this the hard way with our trees last year when we had a particularly rough patch of very high temps with low humidity and lost 70-80% of the leaves and all of the fruit on several trees (even though we were irrigating it weekly). So far this season we've had record days over 110 degrees and all of our trees are ripening fruit and have very little leaf desiccation. The difference is we're irrigating twice/week which seems to be making all the difference. Had our first BM figs this week and they were good, just a little on the dry side. I suppose 115 degrees and 8% humidity will do that to you! That being said, during our Fall through early Spring period we water them very little if at all.
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm I guess the decision of whether to water depends on the climate. Our summers are dry but most years we get 30-80 inches of rain at our location with an average of nearly 60. Speaking of leaf drop during hot weather, our figs experience little or none of that after I stopped watering them although it took them a few years of adaptation to achieve this.
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm I wonder how it would work to water your figs only in the fall-winter-spring and leave them dry during the summer, thus simulating the Mediterranean climate that figs seem naturally suited to.
@@omegamale7880 once they are more established I might give it a shot. After last year's leaf and fruit drop with the hot weather and knowing how consistent we've been with production when irrigating all summer I'm hesitant to try it at this point.
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm If you decide to experiment with the no-summer-watering idea, you might want to wean them off gradually (gradually increase the interval between waterings). I went cold turkey with mine which put a stress on them but they survived since they'd been at least seven years in the ground.
i have 5 different fig trees and mission is one of them if you are only going to grow 1-2 i would not grow this one. the fruit ripens in 1 day - its not yet - not yet - not yet - not yet - RIPE - rotten at least IMHO - since figs dont ripen off of the vine it can be tricky to pick these on the correct day - like go away for a weekend and find 20% have gone bad. it is a fantastic pre-ripe fig on the that 2nd day when it is going to be another 2 days to hit ripe - Pick it and broil it for 2 minutes and it completely changes the nature of the taste eat with some goat cheese all my other figs (brown turkey 6 of these, celeste, white, texas) my brown turkeys produce the most mission produces the 2nd most the white and celeste taste the best IMHO the fig lord
Hey Martin. Thanks for the notes. Our BT is our top producer as well and overall my favorite is probably either the Panache or VDB, but we have a white fig this is very hard to beat as well!
Didn't know about the closed eye on the mission fig. The varieties I have all have that open eye and the ants intrude like little terrorist. I didn't know they have open and closed eye's. Now I'll look for the closed eye varieties. Thanks for the knowledge.
Hey Jonny. I'm not sure if it qualifies as truly a closed eye or not, but all of the figs we've been harvesting have had a closed eye on them. Much easier to deal with than our Brown Turkey figs that seem to always have a few creep crawlers up in them!
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm That's good to know. Looks like they didn't have that deep hole in them like the De Bordeaux. I've done like yall have and plucked off the fruit for a few years now for vegetative growth to only be terrorized by ants burying into that hole. :) I also have a Kadota, Celeste, and Ischia which since you brought that hole to my attention I did some looking into and the ischia is the only one out of the ones I have that has a more closed hole. Now I know what varieties to look for. Figs don't really like our humidity and nematodes to begin with but over time once established do ok. The dry desert air is what they prefer. By next year Lori will be very busy packing away all those figs that'll be loaded on your trees. BTW, got a big smile on my face watching you have that moment with the fig. 😃
Bonjour,5ans plutôt j’ai été goûté ce genre de fig black mission ,gold standard, selon vous * perfect ripe* ,ils sont sucrés par bien absorbé des rayons du soleil ,pas trop juteux,pas trop mous…présentement,on n’avait plus ce goût en remplaçant des figs gros verts et violettes,selon moi : pas bon pcq ils sont presque * diluation*, merci votre partage de plantation ,
Wow, je suis désolé d'apprendre qu'ils sont difficiles à trouver. Je suis curieux de savoir où tu habites ? Ici, aux États-Unis, ils sont encore largement cultivés.
@@takinivo2142 Ah ok. Ça a du sens. À propos, ma famille (Duane) vient du Canada. Le nom de famille est Hébert. Mon arrière-grand-père a immigré du Québec aux États-Unis.
à ha ,vous avez une petite veine Québécoise,tout les immigrants québécois travaillent forts et beaucoup de succès comme Elon musk ,et je vous souhaite une bonne plantation de figs et bonne récolte,au revoir et bonne journée!
Thank you much for all the wonderful information! We live in Arizona in Pinal county and we are starting our off grid journey. We started to ga den this year but we’ve had many challenges with rats and birds we believe are eating much of what we have planted. I love figs but I wanted to know if you have had any issues with mice or pack rats eating the fruit??
Hey Paty. Congrats on this new journey. While we have many challenges in our desert environment, there are also many advantages. Mice and other critters are always a problem and yes, we do get damage from them on the fruit trees as well. With rodents we've resorted to using bait stations to help control the population. Ground squirrels are actually our biggest issue here and they are not 100% effective, but they do help reduce the population to manageable levels.
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm thanks so much for your response! If you don’t mind me asking what brand of bait station have you been using? I will have to get some. I am learning a lot from your from you two you seem to know what you are doing😊
I don't know how saline you're soil is, but our soils are notorious for having high calcium content and they do well. I think it's worth giving it a shot as they are very aggressive growers in climates like this.
Does blue specify work better? I used these bags on my grapes when went out of town for a week and the bird literally ALL of my grapes. On my figs they work about 50% of the time. Thought they seem to still be vale ti pick right through them.
We have not seen a difference when it comes to the color of the organza bags. Sometimes they do well and other times they don't do much at all. I'm not really sure what causes them to work some of the time and not others.
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Thanks! I've had a similar experience with them. We're in Scottsdale. It seems they deter the birds but if the birds are determined and given enough time, they'll find a way haha.
I have a Black Mission fig that has been planted about 3 years I would say it is 4 years old. . Mine has yet to put on any figs. Compare that to my Brown Turkey Fig, which has been produced in the last two years. Can you tell me how long it took yours to produce? It has me worried since it is twice the size of the Brown Turkey fig tree but hasn't produced yet.
Hmm, this is strange. I will say they tend to be a bit finnicky, especially compared to the Brown Turkey figs. Are you seeing any small figlets at all?
@@EarlybirdFarmSC that's a little concerning. I will say, we lost our first round of BM figs this year due to some late frost and they didn't set any fruit until very late, with a small set at that. I'm still holding out hope for you!
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Yeah I lost first set on my Brown Turkey too. It’s loaded now though. I’m in SC and we had two late frost that pretty much killed them and they grew back from the root. That might be why it’s not set any. It has done this two years in a row.
After 40 yrs of growing fig trees this way to harvest them. Grab them around their circumference and GENTLY twist a bit. If it resists you leave it on the tree for more development. If it rotates easily then twist until it seperates. Sorry but the sap coming out is fine. Wash all your figs (which rids them of dirt, bird poop, an bugs) and then pop em into your mouth !!!
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Just to add… I love your videos ! Moving to east valley and coming with some cuttings. Only will have small backyard but will do a couple of figs in pots !!!
Got a couple brown turkey figs in the front. Black mission figs are kinda everywhere... I prefer to grow the types people haven't heard of. Black mission figs are so tiny I don't really consider them to be that productive, therefore, not worth growing.
I can completely understand your position and I think many folks would agree, especially fig connoisseurs! Our take on this is BM figs are readily available for most folks and a good starting point if you've never grown figs before. Here's to many years of fig production (and mushrooms apparently, from your YT handle)😉
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Once my car is fixed, I plan on taking a trip to AZ. I'm willing to share a couple cuttings of the figs I have, to improve your genetic diversity, if you're interested. The other fig variety I have is a turquoise fig (a fig similar in size to the black mission, actually). Have you ever tried foil streamers to keep the birds off your fruit? I have experienced success with this technique, to keep them off of blackberries.
@@deemushroomguy if you head out our way, you'll need to stop by. We've tried the streamers before, but they don't seem to make much of a difference for us. I think our biggest issue is the complete lack of food and water for the wildlife we attract to the farm. We have water bins set out for the critters, but they still seem to munch on the goodies.
It really depends on the kind of fig you're growing. The Black Mission fig is a "figgy" tasting fig, so it does have some resemblance to a fig newton, but it's just not the same flavor. Fig newtons are processed figs, much like you would process a strawberry into a marmalade or something similar. It still tastes like as strawberry, but not like a fresh one.
I was wondering if you can explain, how do you irrigate the land, I was planning to buy land in Arizona sometime I was concerned about the water, how I will water my garden
Hey there Levon. We are on a private well here on this farm, so the water comes from a local aquifer that is protected by state laws that limit the amount of water that can be drawn at any given time and also what it can be used for. We have a playlist that shows our irrigation install that I'll link for you, but it sounds like your questions is more along the lines of water source vs how to get it to your plants. If so, that varies based on where you wind up buying. I'll also link a video we did on buying land in AZ that will give you a few tips as you're looking; Irrigation Playlist; czcams.com/play/PLnT_wyDSIC9jOwEr_CetZQY-R6RQT_uIJ.html Buying Land in AZ episode; czcams.com/video/OHIT75qoBQ8/video.html Hopefully this helps!
You're really going to enjoy those figs Patricia! We have 2 pecan trees here on the farm and are working towards 4. They are tough to get established, but once they're started they can do quite well. In fact, there are a lot of mature pecan trees in some of the older areas of town where flood irrigation has been available for decades. They are VERY large trees and require regular, deep irrigation.
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm thank you so much!! They are my next tree purchase. We have lemon, lime, figs, avocado which is difficult, and pomegranates. They are in large containers waiting for fall planting. Excited to taste the produce from each.
Hmm, that is strange that you're not seeing a fruit set with that fig. Are you located here in Phoenix? I only ask because cooler climates can delay or even stop fruit set on certain varieties. If you're here in AZ it should at least set fruit every season after it's first year in the ground. Consistent irrigation is critical as is fertilizing (Feb, May, Sept) and pruning each Winter season.
Being half Italian we grew up with the green figs . I have one and my wife at first didn't eat them . Now we fight over them . The way I prune them back creates figs growing up each branch . Then we dont get them all in 2 weeks . It's more like 2 - 3 months , depending if fall turns abruptly cold
Ah yes, we have a few green fig varieties as well. It's amazing how much diversity there is in this fruit. Glad to hear you're wife is on the fig bandwagon now!
We'd love to help you out with that, but unfortunately the seeds in our figs are not viable. We don't have the fig wasp here in Arizona that is required to pollinate them.
That's a great question and I'm not sure. I know they do need some chill hours and from what I understand need to go dormant in order to put on fruit. That may be a challenge in a tropical environment.
In AZ - The figs on my two year old fig trees keep getting dry just before ripe. Do I need to up my water or is it just because the trees are young still?
Great question and it could be either. Our trees are getting about 60 gallons/week right now and they could probably use a bit more. The age of the tree also comes into play, but it's more a matter of the size (an indication of root mass) that will drive that. The more root mass, the more it can handle stress.
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Thanks for taking the time to respond. I really appreciate it. I don't think I'm quite giving it 60 gallons a week right now so I'll increase watering. The trees are otherwise healthy as far as I can tell. How often are you watering in this heat?
@@birdman8125 we've been watering them once/week, but starting this week we're going to add a second round of hose watering in the middle of that week. It will only be on the figs as they seem to be struggling a bit more than the rest of our trees. We'll back that down if we stay down in the low 100's, but these days of 110 plus with no rain are just a bit too much for them I think.
These are actually one of the most widely grown varieties (along with the Brown Turkey) however, they do not travel well. They don't ripen off the tree and when fully ripe they have a VERY short shelf life, even in the fridge.
I have heard that missions r very tasty but i live in zone 4b and i m most likely to bring it inside to get it ripe so it might not get the best taste. I may have a better chance with olimpian.
Hey Julio. With zone 4b weather you'll probably need to pot up any fig variety to get it through the Winter. We have an Olympian here on the farm as well and it is smaller in overall size, so it would probably perform better in a pot than a Black Mission.
Do you have any recommendations for the ant issues? I got a few ripe figs this season, then red ants found it and basically hollowed out the rest of the ripe figs. I have a second crop coming up on the same tree and hoping to mitigate that somehow. Thanks guys!
Ah yes, the ants are a pain. That's one of the reasons we try to train the young trees to a single trunk. This will allow you to apply tree tanglefoot to the trunk to keep the ants from climbing up past it. If you haven't used it before, make sure you wrap the trunk first. We like to use flagging tape as it doesn't stick, stretches easy and is cheap!
If you're like a "figgy" tasting fig that will grow like gangbusters then I would pick this one. You can argue the merits of some of the other, more unique figs, but most will not compare with the sheer production and growth of this variety. They also thrive in our hot, desert climate, so it's another reason to go with this one. Now, if you prefer a "berry" tasting fig the panache is our pick on that front.
I have a seven year old fig, not sure the variety, that I bought home the big box store, but I think it's a brown turkey. It's very productive, but we never gotten a good harvest as the rodents always get to them first, and now that we have a dog that likes to chase any moving thing, we have the best harvest this year.
It sounds like you've just solved a common dilemma we all face. One of these days I think we'll need to follow in your footsteps to keep a bit more of the harvest for ourselves as well!
I came here in hopes of learning how to grow my fig tree. I learned instead what they will taste like, how they need to be pruned and when and to use organza when I do get them. Thank you
Here in the inland valleys east of San Diego I used to have a large old fig tree of an unknown variety. The mature figs were light green and about the size of a baseball. They had lovely rose colored centers, were mildly astringent with a strong honey flavor, and I loved that they were not cloyingly sweet. We would pick them in five gallon bucketfuls, and the crows agreed with me they could have the top of the tree (at least 15 feet up) and I could have the bottom half, and even then we had lots of fruit drop because we couldn't eat them all. The Japanese beetles would get drunk on fermented figs and plow into people, walls, and pets. When I sold the home the new buyers agreed they would not cut down the tree, and it still stands.
Oh wow, I just love this story. It's amazing the rich history we have in this country with our farming roots. We're losing a lot of this history to modernization and growth, but I'm hopeful there's enough of us out there that want to pass these experiences on to another generation.
Sounds like white Versailles figs
@@MrEzekiel1982 Possibly! The tree was multi-trunked at the base and grew many suckers.
Sounds amazing! Would you ever send cuttings?
You should send out cuttings to collectors / those interested in keeping these unknown varieties alive. Baseball is a giant fig if I were you I would jump on Ourfigs forums and figBid and sell some cuttings, you would probably get a lot of interest.
You mentioned ants as a problem especially with the brown Turkey. I found a useful solution using tanglefoot around my brown turkey and a few others with larger eyes.
I wrap the truck with gauze and grafting tape on top. Then paint the tanglefoot on top of the tape. It keeps all the crawling insects off for the season. Then unwrap once the fig season is over.
Great suggestion Linda! We have used the exact same process in the past with tree tanglefoot. We used flagging tape instead of gauze to the same effect.
I switched from organza bags to bird netting this year and have been pretty happy with the results so far. It was just too time consuming to bag each individual fig.
We know just how you feel there Jake. The only challenge we had with bird netting was the trees growing right through the netting because of the long harvesting season. Interesting side note, we have had very little bird pressure on these BM figs. It's surrounded by other varieties that even have birds chewing through the organza bags, but we have harvested a few dozen figs from this tree that were never even covered! Might be a fluke, but it's been that way this whole season.
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm yes I know what you mean, fig trees grow quickly even through the summer. Hope you have a good harvest.
Personally I gave up on bird netting years ago. No matter how I secured the netting birds managed to get under it and die before I could get to them and rescue them. For me it was too heartbreaking so the netting was retired. Or they would land on the branch and peck the fruit through the netting. But I live in the low Az desert and moisture for the birds comes at a premium to them. I tried to keep water bowls out for them but that's tough because they dry up so fast. As always what workes for one does not always work for others!
In my small garden orchard, I use to have 28 fruit trees, now I have 24 bc I removed a few & planted more veggies. I also hand cover each piece of fruit. But, I leave many uncovered for the birds. Bc I know my fruit is organic & healthy. So, I’ve accepted the fact that I harvest a maximum of 20-40% of my fruit (except for my persimmons that’s at 75%) & the rest is for all the other animals that know about my backyard orchard.
@@soniatriana9091 I don't mind sharing with the birds but they get to the figs before they are ripe and I get nothing. So during the winter I will make the tree smaller again and hopefully cover the tree. There were so many bird nests with babies I had to leave it alone.
I have all my fig tree of various varieties in containers to restrict their sizes because I have a new, smaller garden. It allows me to have more than I should haha. I look forward to a ton of delicious nutrition and the ability to share with friends.
I've seen a lot of folks growing figs in pots with very good success. Even up in the NE where the Winters would normally kill a fig, they can just bring the pots in when it gets too cold! Here's to good eats this season!
I have inground one and grow in pot or tote or bucket.
This has been our most productive fig year including the white fig that we bought from Reid based on your recommendation. The white fig is great in salads and the black jack, brown turkey and black mission are also great in salads but we love them in our homemade jam and thank you for sharing.
I'm glad to hear you're seeing a solid harvest Daniel. That white fig from RSI is really something and I imagine it is fantastic in a fresh salad.
Fig n bacon pizza .. try it
My opinion the black mission fig is probably one of the best there is, ours now is about six years old it’s about 12 foot higher about 30 foot diameter, very productive, early days try to cover it and at it etc. now it produces enough where there’s enough for the birds and for us, just every January throw about 3 to 4 bags of cow poop down on it it’s good to go, now some bad news are Gold Kist apricot from rsi, which we planted last fall was growing like a weed almost 10 foot tall this last storm snapped it right off at it’s graph point, I’m so sick, had it staked but I guess I should’ve had it stake multiple, Lost his whole growing season, now I have to start all over,
Laveen,AZ
Hey Matthew. Agreed on that fig. They are really hard to beat for a "figgy" fig and they grow like gangbusters! Now onto your apricot, that really is a BUMMER! We know just how you feel as we lost both of our apricot trees the exact same way this past Spring (planted in the Fall as well). I know he has folks helping him graft these days, but I'm really not sure what is happening. I probably won't see him until Fall, but will need to make sure he's aware it's happening to several of us.
Whether figs or blueberries, one way to avoid bird problems is to grow plenty. Here in NC I don't prune my fig. Larger trees produce way more and resist frost damage far better. I planted my brown turkey fig 20 years ago. It is huge now. While I'm no fig expert, they are delicious and folks love them.
Also from AZ, I grew up being only familiar with black mission figs. They are so delicious and they are very prolific. My older sister lived on a mini farm with two gigantic black mission figs. She made preserved whole spiced figs for winter, because there were so many fresh figs for us, plus the birds, that we couldn't eat them all. The whole preserved figs were an amazing treat, as well; but nothing beats a fresh fig right off the tree
That's sad about your apricot
@@flash_flood_area now that is a heck of a great memory from childhood. What a blessing!
I told my wife, you created an opera on how you order your fig trees.
Fig a row!
Oh how she growned.
Oh my goodness, you have us both giggling over there!
We have our black mission fig in a pot. We can't wait to plant it into the ground this fall! We have a common fig and it's doing great My dad and I have been enjoying our summer crop. We are absolutely fig fans.
Hey Aaron! It may not feel like it right now, but planting season is right around the corner! We have a couple to plant ourselves. Fig fans here, just like you and your pop!
how is the taste difference in common fig and black mission?
@@oneein9183 The common fig was identified as a common black mission fig. So in the spring they are very sweet and Berry preserves like. During the summer they are a bit dryer and have a Cucumber / Peach tast! Fall figs are just as good as spring figs but seem to be larger in size!
I have several brown turkey fig trees, a black mission, a celeste, a desert king, and Italian everbearing. I must say they all taste fairly similar to me. I consider figs almost like 2 different fruits. Pick them early and they are tangy. Pick them more ripe and they lose their tang, taste much sweeter, and are more like "fig newton" dried fig flavor. Here in GA, it is tricky to eat them very ripe in my experience. Birds aren't my issue but rather humidity/moisture. They rot (ferment really) easily, and fruit flies can be an issue. We average a windspeed of -4 mph (joke but technically not incorrect) and the figs don't dry and the fruit flies don't blow away. To pick them, I am experimenting with a leaf blower first to blow away the masses of bees, wasps and fruit flies.
Oh my goodness. I'm chuckling at the picture in my mind of you going to harvest from these trees!
I feel your pain here in east Alabama. A friend invited us over to pick some figs and the yellow jackets wouldn't allow us anywhere near the figs. We finally gave up. Bees 1, Us 0.
Love it! I have a new black mission fig tree. Gotta go find your fig pruning video and watch it. The rabbits chewed mine down to nubs and luckily it bounced back, but it's tiny tiny now. Starting from even smaller now. Can't wait til it really gets going and gives me fruit!
Hey Lucy! We know just what it's like to have rabbits terrorize young trees. Even as older trees they'll nibble at the bark, but it's really hard on the young ones. We put 3' hardware cloth in a ring around newly planted trees to give them at least a year without being chewed on. The good news is, these figs grow like crazy, so it should rebound in no time!
Excellent another video on figs, Water is coming from mouth to observe of eating , Hope one day I will have figs trees, I have dry black mission fig, Eating almost every day
Hey there Abid! If you enjoy eating dried figs you'll really enjoy these fresh. They taste AMAZING!
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Yes, I am eating Dried Mission Figs
"Figgy fig." Thank you, now I know how to describe the flavor of a black mission fig.
Not sure how else to describe that taste. We've heard other people refer to them the same way and it seems to fit the taste if you've tried a few different types.
I have to agree, the Black Mission Fig is by far my favorite fig. There are a few more that are ok, but not as enjoyable as the Black Mission fig. Thanks for sharing.
Hey Joseph! Glad we're not the only ones who enjoy this one so much. I think this is one of those tried and true figs that some people take for granted. Kind of like chocolate or vanilla ice cream!
Desert king and Brown Turkey figs are my number one figs
Brown Turkey figs are by far our most productive, I have to admit.
I love the leaves of a fig tree. They look prehistoric to me. My great grandfather grew figs. I was very fascinated by the fruit when I was young.
The leaves are very beautiful. What a wonderful memory to have with your grandfather!
Fig leaves are very good for removing sugar in the blood. They are dried in the shade, and then tea is made. I have the same fig, and I can say that it is the best. Greetings from R. Macedonia.
@@acocvetkov797 We've heard other folks suggest the same, so there must be something to that. Thanks for sharing!
Love it! Thanks guys for sharing your experiences! ❤
Glad you enjoyed the video!
Wow how beautiful place and I like to be farm 💖💖💖💖💖💖 GOD BLESS YOU Guy From SINGAPORE 🇸🇬
Hey there Esperanza! I'm glad you're enjoying the content and hello in Singapore!!
Black Mission is my favorite fig. The tree is so hardy and can grow huge. I let my tree get out of hand and have been bringing the size down over the last 3 years. The big leaves cover the entire tree. Still working on fighting the birds that love to live in that tree.
Hey there June! I'm glad to hear we're not the only ones who really enjoy this fig. It really is a productive tree that grows very quickly!
I’m getting my first significant harvest of my Unknown pastiliere on season two and it is an amazing berry flavor. I don’t know much about flavors of figs but the sweetness combined with a slight tart berry flavor is excellent!
We failed at rooting a cutting of Pastiliere, so it sounds like maybe we need to track another one down!
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Check out either the video by Korean Gardener "This is the best method I've found for rooting fig cuttings" or see the multiple videos by Plant Fanatics on the sand method. I have 20/20 fig cuttings successfully rooted using Korean Gardener's method and the other one looks great too I just have no reason to test it out right now :)
Oh my gosh, Black Missions are the standard by which all black figs should be judged! I'd grow one myself, if the tree weren't so notoriously vigorous...I'd never be able to keep it under control in my small back yard.
Thank you for describing the flavor so well. A lot of fig catalog descriptions want to say every black fig has a berry flavor, but we know that's just not the case here.
Glad we're not the only ones that feel this way! Sometimes the gold standard is that way for a reason and this is definitely the gold standard for figs!
I grow mine in a wine barrel to keep it small. If you grow it in a container and not the ground it won't (can't) get too big.
Good evening !!! Considering the climate you live in, you should definitely get one of the varieties that are good for drying, there are quite known greek varieties of this kind (tsapela figs, and kimis figs) if you can find any of them over the US, try to plant one and you wont regret it, we are drying them so we can eat figs all year around, and they are also used in many recipies. Ofcourse they also can be eaten fresh from the tree.
One fun fact about Black mission figs, In greece (i dont know how many years ago) someone brought the first SDM figs(sultane de marabout) and he called it "black mission", and now everyone has sultane de marabout and calls it black mission, im not even sure if the original "black mission" exist in Greece right now, even farmers are using the name black mission for sultane de marabout...
Ooh, thanks for the suggestion on that fig. We have 11 different varieties on the farm right now, but I have not heard of this one before!
Thank you very much much for sharing 😊
Glad you enjoyed this one!
Now I’m stoked for my brown Turkey to produce! Will have to get one of these too, still haven’t had a fig!
I have to admit, the brown turkey is hard to beat from an overall production standpoint. We prefer the taste of the Black Mission, but they're both solid choices.
Useful information as always Dwayne. Thanks for another great video!♥️
Glad you enjoyed this one!!
The first _real_ fig I tried, which was just last season, was a California Mission Fig, so I guess I started right at the top. Several dozen hours of research later, I bought 2 LSU Purples, the reason being that they were planted on the other side of the continent. While you're correct at the very end of your video _for fig trees planted here in the Southwest_ , you couldn't be more wrong for the Southeast. I haven't yet eaten an LSU Purple--but while it might not be in the same league as CA Mission, it's the only one (of which I'm aware) that nails the trifecta: disease resistance, split resistance, and nematode resistance--none of which we have to worry about out here. If you'd like to discuss affiliation, reach out, my friend. Excellent video!
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Sounds like you've found the right one for you out that way. We have a few others that do well, but this one is hard to beat for outright production in the Southwest.
I'm in SC, I had a brown Turkey I believe, that got about 20 feet tall, before it died. Couldn't even reach the top with a ladder, I put compost and 3 dead squirrels in the hole, when I planted it. Got a couple more now and might get a black mission. Have trouble with the large, fig beetles/.June bug.
What took out that fig tree do you suppose? I know you guys are a bit colder than we are, but I didn't think you guys got down that far??
@@EdgeofNowhereFarmprobably too much water, area got flooded out a couple of times,possibly neighbor who poured round up on couple of my muscadine vines could have done something, but I don't think so, usually round up wilts all the leaves down within a day. That old bastard is dead now.
I have four varieties, and my favorite is the Chicago hardy. It's a great producer, has a unique flavor, and even if I get an unusually cold winter and it "dies" to the ground, it will fruit the following summer. I've had several mild winters in row in zone 7 Maryland, so the tree has been growing well and the yields increase every year. If I could only keep the wasps and hornets away!
Chicago Hardy seems to be the one that is the most cold hardy, at least from what I've seen. As long as you're seeing strong growth and it comes back each year, I suppose that's all that matters. I'll remember your story when folks ask us for a cold hardy suggestion. Thank you for the comment!
I respectfully disagree with you on BM being the gold standard of figs 😊… VDB and Panache that you have are considered much higher quality in the flavor department. And then a lot of fig collectors will say that Black Madeira and Figo Preto are close to the best, if not the best. Other very high quality figs include Adriatic JH, I-258, Strawberry Verte, Colnel Littman and Red Lebanese BV. BM is productive and vigorous, so from that perspective, and if you are selling to average customers who don’t have very refined fig palate it probably does the job.
Hey Ahmad. We're fans of the VDB and Panache as well and we can only speak from our experience with the 9 varieties we've grown and tried. Still working on our collection!
Probably depend on location.
I agree. Black Madeira is probably the best tasting fig and it is easy to propagate because as you mentioned, it's really vigorous. However, in my climate (Canada), its fruit do not ripen unless you extend your season by waking them up much earlier indoors.
@@datugintuong464I agree. Also the location plays a part as well.
Best regards.
Do you sell cuttings?
I have a pretty big black mission fig tree. I freaking love them.
They really are a very good all around fig. They check so many boxes. Easy to find, propagate, grow, harvest and they are a good tasting fig!
I took your advice. I bought the plant and it is growing. We usually have ficus palmata around here but I don't like its taste. Let's see how it goes.
If there's a fig out there for everyone, I think this would cover most of the planet. I hope you enjoy the fruit as much as we do!
I've been trying to grow a Blackjack fig for a few years but haven't had much luck. I should have gotten mission figs.
Mission figs are very precocious, but usually Blackjacks do pretty well also. Were you growing them in the ground?
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Yes, but I don't think I dug deep enough and large enough when I planted. Preparation is key.
Of the commonly available fig varieties, Black Mission has the best flavor 👍
That's one of our favorite things about this fig. It's readily available, easy to grow and has a solid "figgy" taste to it.
Black Mission Figs are my favorite variety as well.
Hey Nate! Glad to hear it. It's funny, because everyone has their own opinions and favorites, but it's really hard to beat something as tried and true as this one!
Hii Dwayne I'm from India🇮🇳 love watching Your Videos
Please tell me what are prices of land there...
Hello in India!! I'm glad you are enjoying the content. Very similar climate to yours here in Arizona. Land has become very expensive recently. An acre of land around where we live is going for as much as $100k US. More than quadruple the amount we purchased ours for in 2018.
I am in Florida the Panache fig is never good in the Fla area , always split when ripe
I imagine that's from the humidity.
This is a very delicious fruit, greetings from Indonesia, good luck always
They really are an excellent all around fruit and the tree is very forgiving to us growers!
You do realize that more than half of the U. S. is zone 6 or lower, right?
The black mission fig is widely available as dried fruit in grocery stores in the Appalachian Mountains where I live. I keep a package in my truck and enjoy them almost daily.
But my area is zone 6B. The Black Mission fig tree will never bear ripe fruit as an in ground plant here.
I love fresh figs and currently have a Brown Turkey and a Celeste fig tree in my backyard.
I scarcely get a single ripe fig from the Brown Turkey and have cut the tree back to the ground several times, but it always comes back vigorously and is covered with figs. And I've recently learned some techniques that may lead to my actually getting an early enough harvest from it.
The Celeste, however, is always covered in figs and I typically get to enjoy a dozen or two fresh fruits before the first significant frost.
This year, I plan to try a Chicago Hardy fig in my quest for an earlier, more abundant harvest.
Glad you're having success with those varieties and yes, I do realize a lot of the country is in a lower growing zone than we are here. We all have our challenges, but it's the beauty of gardening. Adapting where you can and seeing what works for each of us. You mentioned a technique on getting an earlier harvest, curious as to what that is!
I grafted black mission to my big caprifig tree a couple years ago and it was loaded with big plump figs this year for the first time. The birds ate them all…… We are not living at home due to a surprise remodel (bathroom fire) and we don’t go out there every day, so the birds have been reaping the rewards from my figs, stone fruit and blackberries and raspberries this year. Having a trailer delivered to the property to live in during construction so hopefully now I can pay better attention to the late season fruit and get something this year, lol.
Oh man, Jared sorry to hear that brother. It's never a good thing when you have something happen to your house, but a fire is just downright scary! I'm glad you guys are ok and rolling with the punches. The fruit will be there next year!
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm thanks Duane, I appreciate that. It was mostly smoke damage to the house although the bathroom was a total loss so it’s being gutted and redone along with our floors and ceilings and a few other things. I’m thankful we were actually in Los Angeles at universal studios for my son’s birthday when it happened and we even took my dog so nobody was home and no one was hurt. Bright side is that we are getting an insurance sponsored remodel, lol. House is gonna be better than when we bought it. I guess you always gotta look for the upside of bad situations.
@@jaredmccutcheon5496 wow, talk about diving providence! I agree with you on looking on the bright side. If you don't do that with situations like this, life can get pretty bleak!
Great video as always :)
I see a lot of smoothie recipes call for bananas, but I'm allergic. You mentioned the flavor being similar to a banana, so I'm wondering if I could substitute it for these figs in recipes? I tried my first ever fig a couple years ago (brown turkey) and I remember them having a similar smooth, sticky texture.
We're fans of smoothies as well and have them several times a week. We prefer to use bananas, but you could definitely swap figs for bananas. Just be cautious with them as they do have some acidic qualities to them and a little goes a LONG way!
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Awesome, thanks. I'll give it a try.
Cool, black mission is your classic archetype fig, tasty. I’ve just heard of Chicago hardy and apparently it can die back in winter and still produce the following year, interesting. I’m in zone 6 Toronto, so it would be interesting to not have to overwinter them.
Do you sell fresh figs? They look so good.
Hey Marilyn. We do plan on selling fresh figs in the future once the trees are producing well. That is done through our customer email list that you can join through our website if you're interested. I'll link that for you here;
www.edgeofnowherefarm.com/
Hi there. I came across your site and found your video interesting. I'm central Florida. I just recently purchased a Turkey Fig Tree, which my husband and I planted just the other day. Its about four feet currently. I'm hoping it'll do well and produce a good load of figs in due time. I am a "bit" concerned by a couple of things either you mentioned or were mentioned here in the comments. You mentioned about the "open eye" with the Turkey Figs. I'd hate for ants (and this area has lots), to invade the fruit. I know when my dad planted a fig tree (not sure what variety), but it produced a massive amount by the second year. Granted, birds would occasionally come by and peck at some, but we had so many, it hardly mattered. This tree, down here in Florida which I planted in his memory, will be in the hopes of a similar amount of figs. Another, probably bigger concern for me is ATTRACTING Rodents! I certainly do NOT want that. Any suggestions? Very appreciative. Thank you!
Hey there! First off, congrats on that new tree. Turkey fig trees are VERY productive for us here in AZ and I can only imagine what kind of production you'll see with the extra humidity in FL.
The open eye on figs can cause issues with bugs and ants would be one of them. The one thing we've found that works well for those is a product called Tree Tanglefoot. When applied to the trunk (over flagging tape or something similar) will keep the ants from getting up into the tree and in the fruit. Other bugs can still get in though!
As for rodents, the only thing you can effectively do for them is to keep the area around the tree free of fallen fruit. That will at least deter them from hanging around and searching for more fruit.
Where do you get your water on the edge of nowhere in Arizona?
We're on well water here in Wittmann. It's fed by the Hassayampa aquifer and is VERY consistent with about double the recharge rate vs current usage.
I have a Peters Honey fig and it has barely grown in the 4 years I have had it here. It produces a bunch of figs but they are small and never fully develop. Not sure if doesn't like Arizona or not.
Ah yes, the Peter's Honey Fig. We have had our fair share of unripe figs from this tree as well, however it does grow really well for us, so I'm not sure what's going on there. What is your watering and irrigation regimen? Also, ground cover, etc?
Can you believe 2cuttings of craven craving fig sold for $481 on fig bid
Oh my goodness, that is INSANE!
I stay in Allen, TX. I have planted a black mission fig tree in my backyard which is now around 4yrs old. Unfortunately, it has not produced any fruits yet. No disease, regularly fertilizing it. Can you suggest any additional steps to take to make it fruit ? TIA
Hmm, you should be seeing success with this variety in Allen, TX. A 4 year old tree should be producing for you as long as you're seeing solid growth otherwise (at 4 years old it should be a good size tree/bush). Assuming the nursery was correct in the variety, the only thing I would say you'll want to try is pruning it back a bit further. What have you been doing as far as dormant season pruning?
Something to note about the fig newton comment. Fig newtons are made with a fig paste which is a blend of Black Mission, Calimyrna, and Adriatic figs. I would imagine the taste of the newtons is a bit different than eating fresh figs purely because they are dried and processed with vanilla and water to get the consistency necessary for the fig paste used in the fig newtons. So, like the difference between eating raisins vs grapes or prunes vs plums. Dried vs fresh figs will taste different. There is a recipe on the supplier of the fig paste; Valley Fig Growers in California. Of course they dont really give you the full Fig Newton paste recipe, but it gives you an idea of where the flavor of a fig newton comes from.
Wow, that is some great information on fig newtons!
I guess that’s a good fig for many parts of the world. A friend of mine living in Chicago said whenever he comes back home to Turkey, he eats tons of figs because figs in other countries are just not figs to him :) I guess here in Turkey, we’re quite lucky about figs. I grafted 2 new types of figs today, in my modest orchard in Bursa. They are huge, super soft and juicy. One is Bursa white, a sagging white fig in shape of a long water drop, with a slight crack in the bottom, dripping like honey. Another one is a huge purple one with vibrant magenta inside, large crack in the bottom. Tastes a bit like tardy caramel when fully ripe. I guess it’s from Denizli area.
The one in your video has a shape quite new to me. Never seen such a jujube-like fig shape before.
Are they good when dried? Have you ever tried it?
Wow, the figs you're describing sound fantastic! I imagine your climate plays a large role in the amount of moisture your figs have. That's our challenge here with very dry weather year round. This fig is very good dried, in fact it's the most common dried fig we can usually find in grocery stores. Funny, the Brown Turkey fig is also commonly used for dried figs here as well!
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm For your climate, you’re doing an amazing job! Always a pleasure to see your work and progress. 🧿
I have these, and the ripe ones start to crack. The ones you showed weren’t peak ripe yet. Also, you can let them ripen and then dry on the tree, and they become almost like jam.
Thanks for the notes on this one Tom. We usually pick them just a bit under ripe, but I wasn't aware they would dry well on the tree!
Thanks for the information and great tips!
Sure thing Aaron!
We got the best fig overhere
Which is your favorite variety Mohamed?
We love figs. Very hardy plant. Where we are, it’s a bit tough to grow but we still get fruit. I don’t think to it’s full potential though. We live in the rainiest city in the United States. Nonetheless, my kids eat those things like candy. That’s if the birds don’t get em first🤦🏽♂️🥴
Glad to hear there are more of us fig lovers out there and more importantly, your youngsters getting a taste for these as well. One of the things you may have that we don't is a lot more honey in your figs. Our dry weather helps the trees to grow large and produce a lot of fruit, but on the flip side they are usually much more dry than other areas of the country.
Awesome video, thank you for sharing
Glad you enjoyed this one!
Not my favorite fig for flavor. Pretty low on that list. It's also the only one you can readily buy in stores. Growing something you can't buy is appealing to me
I can appreciate that feeling. For us here in AZ, we rarely see a fig in the store and if you do, they are full of mold. Here's to better harvests and sweeter figs!
Good to know!
Hey Anita! Glad you found this one useful!
OK, Black Mission. Gotta get one for the garden. !
I can see why this is considered the gold standard for fig growers. There are better figs out there, but this has it all. Strong growth, heavy production and wonderful tasting fruit.
Most trees should keep leaves above ground a distance for bugs
Very true Joseph! One of the many reasons to prune those low hanging branches during the dormant season.
Beer’s Black number one fig
Hmm, now that is the first time I've heard of that one. Is it a "figgy" tasting fig or berry?
I’ve always had more problems with ants than birds on my figs. Mixing some cinnamon in water and painting the stems helps a bit but impractical for larger scale
Oh wow, now that sounds interesting. I'd like to try this to see how it does, thanks for the tip!
Have you tried the maize/corn method? It really works on european ants, this tutorial is spoken in Italian but the process shown is understandable by anyone czcams.com/video/6uA3e4Gpqkg/video.html
Diatomaceous earth around the trunk can help. Also you can make borax traps. a half cup of sugar, 1.5 tablespoons of borax, and 1.5 cups of warm water
You have to mound figs grown in arid areas because of saline soils
We generally plant all of our trees higher to avoid our hard caliche (rock like layer), but it would help with saline as well.
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Gypsum apparently works well in saline soils
@@user-ds2ej3wn8p we don't use it here, but have in the past on other properties.
our Black Mission is very good, but birds are an issue. but not with our Green Ischia. with adequate rainfall (this year severe drought) its fairly juicy and tastes like honey.
Oh man, just a little jealous of that Green Ischia. I understand they are one of the best when it comes to the green varieties!
Yeah, there are a lot of these fig trees around.
I agree Jay, it tends to be one of the most common!
Great video. I have black fig trees, all clones but I have no idea it's type. It looks like yours. I tell if they are ready if they visually hang and are soft to touch. Picking upwards, if they fall into my hand, tells me they are perfect. In reality I eat far too many figs and have to watch for fructose toxicity...(I can tell because my skin, head gets itchy). For this reason I don't mind a few birds. I am feeding handfuls to the land turtles and chickens anyway. I leave one or two high branches for the birds and I remove the lower branch figs constantly throughout the day... About every time I go outside because they are close to the door. I have girosolillos (wild sunflowers) nearby. The birds are more interested in the wild sunflowers than the figs. These flowers also protect my jujubes when they are ripe.
I know just how you feel with that fructose toxicity. On top of that, figs have a bit of toxicity on their own, so you really have to eat them sparingly. You caught my attention at Jujube. What varieties are you growing and when are they usually ripe for you?
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm don't know the type of jujubes. In Mexico people share fruit when they visit and I plant the seeds. Sometimes I take cuttings from trees hanging out in the streets. At the minute the jujubes are starting to turn yellowish. No brown spots yet. I will start eating them like tasteless apples in about a week. I'll start adding them to saurcraut very soon. They will be very sweet in about a month.
Lots of good info on your channel. Background muzak doesn't improve on that.
Yeah, not professionals over here when it comes to that kind of thing.
Y’all what fig would you say would flourish in high desert, freezing in winter and very dry and hot in summer. The Reno Nevada area?
The biggest issue for you there will be any heavy frosts. Most figs are good down to about zone 6-7, but the Chicago Hardy may be your best option and it is listed down to about zone 5. Either way you may need to bring them in on heavy frost nights, so potting may be needed.
do the organza bags help keep crap out of the brown turkey? I have the same issue stuff crawls throught the eye and spoils the fruit before its rippened. By the time i pick them at ripe they have turned into vinegar
Hey Brendan. That's hit or miss with BT figs. Unless you synch them up real tight you can still get critters in there. It does help, but it's not 100%.
Great info
How much water do you give per week?
Hey Steven. Right now these trees are getting 60 gallons once/week. They struggle a little on that, but we're holding to it as long as they don't stress too much.
Great video. I planted a tiny Celeste fig in May in Charlotte NC-a clay soil, humid climate. Any suggestions on care? Thank you!
Hey Kathryn! We are not growing the Celeste here, but most figs crave similar things. They love hot summers, but dry air can make the fruit more dry (like you're seeing with ours). They need chill hours, but not too cold or they can be killed. You probably won't have a need to irrigate, but they do need regular fertilizing. They respond well to pruning, but with your colder weather you may need to be careful pruning as much as we do here. AZ is a near ideal climate for figs, so they grow very rapidly. You may find yours are a bit slower growing.
Based on my experience, I have a definite opinion on how an established fig should be watered: not at all. Figs just don't do well when they're watered, don't produce much, don't grow well, fruit is flavorless. I used to water my figs every ten days in the summer (here in the Mediterranean climate of California) but they're doing much better now in all respects in the four years since I stopped watering them. Looks like your figs are doing well in the desert. Please give your thoughts regarding fig watering as there is very little information on this topic.
Ah yes, I (Duane) am from California and have to admit, it was a steep learning curve using that experience here in the desert.
We've been growing figs for about 9 years here now and have found that regular irrigation is critical to the health and production of our trees. I assume it's the complete and total lack of humidity (very common to be below 10%) that causes this. The months of June and early July are especially critical as our hot/dry weather will literally kill mature trees and at the very least cause desiccation of nearly all of the leaves, and much, if not all, of the fruit will drop. We learned this the hard way with our trees last year when we had a particularly rough patch of very high temps with low humidity and lost 70-80% of the leaves and all of the fruit on several trees (even though we were irrigating it weekly). So far this season we've had record days over 110 degrees and all of our trees are ripening fruit and have very little leaf desiccation. The difference is we're irrigating twice/week which seems to be making all the difference. Had our first BM figs this week and they were good, just a little on the dry side. I suppose 115 degrees and 8% humidity will do that to you!
That being said, during our Fall through early Spring period we water them very little if at all.
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm I guess the decision of whether to water depends on the climate. Our summers are dry but most years we get 30-80 inches of rain at our location with an average of nearly 60. Speaking of leaf drop during hot weather, our figs experience little or none of that after I stopped watering them although it took them a few years of adaptation to achieve this.
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm I wonder how it would work to water your figs only in the fall-winter-spring and leave them dry during the summer, thus simulating the Mediterranean climate that figs seem naturally suited to.
@@omegamale7880 once they are more established I might give it a shot. After last year's leaf and fruit drop with the hot weather and knowing how consistent we've been with production when irrigating all summer I'm hesitant to try it at this point.
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm If you decide to experiment with the no-summer-watering idea, you might want to wean them off gradually (gradually increase the interval between waterings). I went cold turkey with mine which put a stress on them but they survived since they'd been at least seven years in the ground.
i have 5 different fig trees and mission is one of them if you are only going to grow 1-2 i would not grow this one.
the fruit ripens in 1 day - its not yet - not yet - not yet - not yet - RIPE - rotten at least IMHO - since figs dont ripen off of the vine it can be tricky to pick these on the correct day - like go away for a weekend and find 20% have gone bad.
it is a fantastic pre-ripe fig on the that 2nd day when it is going to be another 2 days to hit ripe - Pick it and broil it for 2 minutes and it completely changes the nature of the taste eat with some goat cheese
all my other figs (brown turkey 6 of these, celeste, white, texas) my brown turkeys produce the most mission produces the 2nd most
the white and celeste taste the best IMHO
the fig lord
Hey Martin. Thanks for the notes. Our BT is our top producer as well and overall my favorite is probably either the Panache or VDB, but we have a white fig this is very hard to beat as well!
Best
These are an excellent fig, especially in warm climates!
Wow look so dry out there
It is very dry out here! We are hoping for some more rain!
Didn't know about the closed eye on the mission fig. The varieties I have all have that open eye and the ants intrude like little terrorist. I didn't know they have open and closed eye's. Now I'll look for the closed eye varieties. Thanks for the knowledge.
Hey Jonny. I'm not sure if it qualifies as truly a closed eye or not, but all of the figs we've been harvesting have had a closed eye on them. Much easier to deal with than our Brown Turkey figs that seem to always have a few creep crawlers up in them!
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm That's good to know. Looks like they didn't have that deep hole in them like the De Bordeaux. I've done like yall have and plucked off the fruit for a few years now for vegetative growth to only be terrorized by ants burying into that hole. :)
I also have a Kadota, Celeste, and Ischia which since you brought that hole to my attention I did some looking into and the ischia is the only one out of the ones I have that has a more closed hole. Now I know what varieties to look for. Figs don't really like our humidity and nematodes to begin with but over time once established do ok. The dry desert air is what they prefer. By next year Lori will be very busy packing away all those figs that'll be loaded on your trees.
BTW, got a big smile on my face watching you have that moment with the fig. 😃
@@jonnyhawt8973 I don't wind up at a loss for words very often, but that was a darn good fig!
It won't help you, I have closed-eye varieties and the ants pierce the skin in only a few hours !
Bonjour,5ans plutôt j’ai été goûté ce genre de fig black mission ,gold standard, selon vous * perfect ripe* ,ils sont sucrés par bien absorbé des rayons du soleil ,pas trop juteux,pas trop mous…présentement,on n’avait plus ce goût en remplaçant des figs gros verts et violettes,selon moi : pas bon pcq ils sont presque * diluation*, merci votre partage de plantation ,
Wow, je suis désolé d'apprendre qu'ils sont difficiles à trouver. Je suis curieux de savoir où tu habites ? Ici, aux États-Unis, ils sont encore largement cultivés.
Je vis au Québec ( Canada ),ici,le froid 8 mois ,donc le fig est importé de l’Etat Unis ,
@@takinivo2142 Ah ok. Ça a du sens. À propos, ma famille (Duane) vient du Canada. Le nom de famille est Hébert. Mon arrière-grand-père a immigré du Québec aux États-Unis.
à ha ,vous avez une petite veine Québécoise,tout les immigrants québécois travaillent forts et beaucoup de succès comme Elon musk ,et je vous souhaite une bonne plantation de figs et bonne récolte,au revoir et bonne journée!
Thank you much for all the wonderful information! We live in Arizona in Pinal county and we are starting our off grid journey. We started to ga den this year but we’ve had many challenges with rats and birds we believe are eating much of what we have planted. I love figs but I wanted to know if you have had any issues with mice or pack rats eating the fruit??
Hey Paty. Congrats on this new journey. While we have many challenges in our desert environment, there are also many advantages. Mice and other critters are always a problem and yes, we do get damage from them on the fruit trees as well. With rodents we've resorted to using bait stations to help control the population. Ground squirrels are actually our biggest issue here and they are not 100% effective, but they do help reduce the population to manageable levels.
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm thanks so much for your response! If you don’t mind me asking what brand of bait station have you been using? I will have to get some. I am learning a lot from your from you two you seem to know what you are doing😊
@@patyp.7401 I'll link to the one we're using here for you;
amzn.to/3cYzV3p
Will they grow in saline soil?, I want to grow brown Turkey, Black Genoa white Genoa and Adriatic figs
I don't know how saline you're soil is, but our soils are notorious for having high calcium content and they do well. I think it's worth giving it a shot as they are very aggressive growers in climates like this.
Love it..👍
Glad you enjoyed this one Muah!
Does blue specify work better? I used these bags on my grapes when went out of town for a week and the bird literally ALL of my grapes. On my figs they work about 50% of the time. Thought they seem to still be vale ti pick right through them.
We have not seen a difference when it comes to the color of the organza bags. Sometimes they do well and other times they don't do much at all. I'm not really sure what causes them to work some of the time and not others.
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Thanks! I've had a similar experience with them. We're in Scottsdale. It seems they deter the birds but if the birds are determined and given enough time, they'll find a way haha.
I have a Black Mission fig that has been planted about 3 years I would say it is 4 years old. . Mine has yet to put on any figs. Compare that to my Brown Turkey Fig, which has been produced in the last two years. Can you tell me how long it took yours to produce? It has me worried since it is twice the size of the Brown Turkey fig tree but hasn't produced yet.
Hmm, this is strange. I will say they tend to be a bit finnicky, especially compared to the Brown Turkey figs. Are you seeing any small figlets at all?
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Nope none at all. I would say it about 5 ft tall and 5 ft in diameter now.
@@EarlybirdFarmSC that's a little concerning. I will say, we lost our first round of BM figs this year due to some late frost and they didn't set any fruit until very late, with a small set at that. I'm still holding out hope for you!
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Yeah I lost first set on my Brown Turkey too. It’s loaded now though. I’m in SC and we had two late frost that pretty much killed them and they grew back from the root. That might be why it’s not set any. It has done this two years in a row.
That was a Peach of a video! Lol.
I see what you did there Kylan! 😉
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm 😂😂😂😂
Atleast u don’t have to worry about weeds out there
Boy, is that ever true Jolie!
After 40 yrs of growing fig trees this way to harvest them. Grab them around their circumference and GENTLY twist a bit. If it resists you leave it on the tree for more development. If it rotates easily then twist until it seperates. Sorry but the sap coming out is fine. Wash all your figs (which rids them of dirt, bird poop, an bugs) and then pop em into your mouth !!!
It sounds like you're done this a time or two. Thank you for the harvesting notes. Now to go wash some figs!!
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Just to add… I love your videos ! Moving to east valley and coming with some cuttings. Only will have small backyard but will do a couple of figs in pots !!!
Got a couple brown turkey figs in the front. Black mission figs are kinda everywhere... I prefer to grow the types people haven't heard of. Black mission figs are so tiny I don't really consider them to be that productive, therefore, not worth growing.
I can completely understand your position and I think many folks would agree, especially fig connoisseurs! Our take on this is BM figs are readily available for most folks and a good starting point if you've never grown figs before. Here's to many years of fig production (and mushrooms apparently, from your YT handle)😉
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Once my car is fixed, I plan on taking a trip to AZ. I'm willing to share a couple cuttings of the figs I have, to improve your genetic diversity, if you're interested. The other fig variety I have is a turquoise fig (a fig similar in size to the black mission, actually).
Have you ever tried foil streamers to keep the birds off your fruit? I have experienced success with this technique, to keep them off of blackberries.
@@deemushroomguy if you head out our way, you'll need to stop by. We've tried the streamers before, but they don't seem to make much of a difference for us. I think our biggest issue is the complete lack of food and water for the wildlife we attract to the farm. We have water bins set out for the critters, but they still seem to munch on the goodies.
I've never had a fig. Want to go get some. I heard they do not taste like newtons, which I love. But why not? What's the difference?
It really depends on the kind of fig you're growing. The Black Mission fig is a "figgy" tasting fig, so it does have some resemblance to a fig newton, but it's just not the same flavor. Fig newtons are processed figs, much like you would process a strawberry into a marmalade or something similar. It still tastes like as strawberry, but not like a fresh one.
I was wondering if you can explain, how do you irrigate the land, I was planning to buy land in Arizona sometime I was concerned about the water, how I will water my garden
Hey there Levon. We are on a private well here on this farm, so the water comes from a local aquifer that is protected by state laws that limit the amount of water that can be drawn at any given time and also what it can be used for. We have a playlist that shows our irrigation install that I'll link for you, but it sounds like your questions is more along the lines of water source vs how to get it to your plants. If so, that varies based on where you wind up buying. I'll also link a video we did on buying land in AZ that will give you a few tips as you're looking;
Irrigation Playlist;
czcams.com/play/PLnT_wyDSIC9jOwEr_CetZQY-R6RQT_uIJ.html
Buying Land in AZ episode;
czcams.com/video/OHIT75qoBQ8/video.html
Hopefully this helps!
I have two fig trees. Thank you for your video. I also would like to plant a couple pecan trees. How easy are they to grow in southern Arizona?
You're really going to enjoy those figs Patricia! We have 2 pecan trees here on the farm and are working towards 4. They are tough to get established, but once they're started they can do quite well. In fact, there are a lot of mature pecan trees in some of the older areas of town where flood irrigation has been available for decades. They are VERY large trees and require regular, deep irrigation.
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm thank you so much!! They are my next tree purchase. We have lemon, lime, figs, avocado which is difficult, and pomegranates. They are in large containers waiting for fall planting. Excited to taste the produce from each.
Pecan trees grow all over Southern Az. Green Valley Pecan company is just south of Sahuarita.
Sabrosos los higuitos!!!❤❤❤
¡Estos también te irían bien en México!
I have an LSU purple fig that I can’t seem to get to set fruit. Any suggestions? It’s been in the ground for about three years. Thanks.
Hmm, that is strange that you're not seeing a fruit set with that fig. Are you located here in Phoenix? I only ask because cooler climates can delay or even stop fruit set on certain varieties.
If you're here in AZ it should at least set fruit every season after it's first year in the ground. Consistent irrigation is critical as is fertilizing (Feb, May, Sept) and pruning each Winter season.
Being half Italian we grew up with the green figs . I have one and my wife at first didn't eat them . Now we fight over them . The way I prune them back creates figs growing up each branch . Then we dont get them all in 2 weeks . It's more like 2 - 3 months , depending if fall turns abruptly cold
Ah yes, we have a few green fig varieties as well. It's amazing how much diversity there is in this fruit. Glad to hear you're wife is on the fig bandwagon now!
I never tried it before
It's very good Matola. Nothing like your bananas and mangoes though!
Can you send seeds to the Caribbean
We'd love to help you out with that, but unfortunately the seeds in our figs are not viable. We don't have the fig wasp here in Arizona that is required to pollinate them.
I bought tuille, like prom dress netting. I will put it around fig on branch or tree.
Hey there Loyce. I imagine that stuff would work wonders keeping both bugs and birds out!
Do popular figs bear sweet fruits in tropics?
That's a great question and I'm not sure. I know they do need some chill hours and from what I understand need to go dormant in order to put on fruit. That may be a challenge in a tropical environment.
High 26-38C depending on season.
In AZ - The figs on my two year old fig trees keep getting dry just before ripe. Do I need to up my water or is it just because the trees are young still?
Great question and it could be either. Our trees are getting about 60 gallons/week right now and they could probably use a bit more. The age of the tree also comes into play, but it's more a matter of the size (an indication of root mass) that will drive that. The more root mass, the more it can handle stress.
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Thanks for taking the time to respond. I really appreciate it. I don't think I'm quite giving it 60 gallons a week right now so I'll increase watering. The trees are otherwise healthy as far as I can tell. How often are you watering in this heat?
@@birdman8125 we've been watering them once/week, but starting this week we're going to add a second round of hose watering in the middle of that week. It will only be on the figs as they seem to be struggling a bit more than the rest of our trees. We'll back that down if we stay down in the low 100's, but these days of 110 plus with no rain are just a bit too much for them I think.
How well do they transport?
These are actually one of the most widely grown varieties (along with the Brown Turkey) however, they do not travel well. They don't ripen off the tree and when fully ripe they have a VERY short shelf life, even in the fridge.
I have heard that missions r very tasty but i live in zone 4b and i m most likely to bring it inside to get it ripe so it might not get the best taste. I may have a better chance with olimpian.
Hey Julio. With zone 4b weather you'll probably need to pot up any fig variety to get it through the Winter. We have an Olympian here on the farm as well and it is smaller in overall size, so it would probably perform better in a pot than a Black Mission.
What is olympian the same as brown turky ? because some people think like that. I don't have any sources of information. I need help to find it
Do you have any recommendations for the ant issues? I got a few ripe figs this season, then red ants found it and basically hollowed out the rest of the ripe figs. I have a second crop coming up on the same tree and hoping to mitigate that somehow. Thanks guys!
Ah yes, the ants are a pain. That's one of the reasons we try to train the young trees to a single trunk. This will allow you to apply tree tanglefoot to the trunk to keep the ants from climbing up past it. If you haven't used it before, make sure you wrap the trunk first. We like to use flagging tape as it doesn't stick, stretches easy and is cheap!
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Awesome, thank you very much for the idea! I'll pruning like that this winter and trying the tanglefoot next year.
Diatomaceous earth around the trunk can help. Also you can make borax traps. a half cup of sugar, 1.5 tablespoons of borax, and 1.5 cups of warm water
I made jams yummy 😋
Hey Suzanna! We're right there with you in enjoying a fig jam. It seems they were designed for it!
If you plant only 1 fig, you recommend a black mission? I'm in Las Vegasn
If you're like a "figgy" tasting fig that will grow like gangbusters then I would pick this one. You can argue the merits of some of the other, more unique figs, but most will not compare with the sheer production and growth of this variety. They also thrive in our hot, desert climate, so it's another reason to go with this one. Now, if you prefer a "berry" tasting fig the panache is our pick on that front.