First fig of the season
 

Just picked my first fig of the season, a 'Brooklyn White'. My favorite out of all the figs hardy here that I've tasted. 'Alma' has a couple getting ready now as well. They blow this one away as far as taste, but I have to bring it in for the winter.

Oh, man! We have a ton of Brown Turkeys set, but it's not been hot enough to ripen them. Lucky you!

'Alma', a couple days from ripe. These don't get as dark as 'Brooklyn White'. They ripen at a nice golden color, and are pure honey on the inside. Hands down the best fig I've ever had.

Neat! I had no idea that figs could be grown that far north. What zone are you in, or how cold hardy are they?

I'm in zone 6. Just south east of Chicago, on the mitten end of Lake Michigan.

Here we have several types of figs, in different sizes and colors, but for simplicity sake, we generalize into two categiries: the ones that are harvested in June and the other in October (smaller and used to dry to eat in winter).

Fig trees here grow literally everywhere, in farm lands and in the wild. Since they are trees that doesn't need any special maintenance the wild ones are as good as the ones cultivated.
Strangley enough, in supermarkets they are expensive, I really don't know why because one can harvest them anywhere.

Likewise, I have always seen fig trees here but I've only seen them at the market the last decade. Maybe they weren't as popular.

OT: I would love to see loquats in the markets, next! (I don't have a yard).

I'm in zone 7A. The 'Brooklyn White' is totally hardy here, but 'Alma' is only hardy to about 20°F. I leave it out until we get a decent frost which kills the leaves, then bring it in to a cool, dark garage until spring.

I have been enjoying figs from my small fig trees, 'Petite Negra' and ‘Little Ruby’, both in ten-inch pots. I wintered them over under lights last year and they produced figs early and have just kept producing. This year, to save space, I will winter them in a cold room. I live where it should be 6A but we get temperatures more in the 5b range. Then there is the wind.... Figs are pretty good when they are home grown. The two varieties that I grow are good ones for those who must grow indoors. :)

There are many different kinds of figs with different hardiness zones. A fair number of people grow them in back yards in New York City. They wrap them with paper and blankets each fall to protect them through the winter. Many of these figs were carried from Italy and other Mediterranean climates in the late 1890s-early 1900s.

They seem to be pretty hardy. A family member living near the Alps in France has a monsterous one in his yard. He on the borderline between zones 6 and 7. I think it did freeze a few times during particularily harsh winters, but after a good pruning it always comes back.

My Brown Turkey figs were ripe about a month ago, had about 50. Eventually I got fed up eating them and the wasps got a feast. Probably getting to the Northerly limit of it's range at 56N but aided by the gulfstream.

Here's a whole plant pic of 'Brooklyn White'. I received it as a cutting from an OB member, Dan796 I believe is/was his screen name shortly after joining OB. I put it in a 1 gal pot and there it remained doing the seasonal in and out until last fall when I put it in the ground. At the time it was planted there were 3 or 4 stems about 1' long each. The plant is currently 7' tall & about as wide. That is a single season's growth!

Nice looking plant. Our grow about 8' x 8'. But our weather hasn't been condusive to ripening. Do you think your concrete drive acts as a heat sink?

For the first time in my adult life I'm living in a house that has no fig tree! I miss having one. Fortunately, dear Carol sent me some preserves made with her figs!

I know it does! I kept a zone 8 hardy cultivar of rosemary in the inside corner formed by the blacktop driveway and a black slate patio until 2 of the coldest winters on record hit back to back.