First figs of the season. Fig Progress Report. 7.19.14

Lattarula First Figs.  7.19.14

Lattarula.  7.19.14

Petite Aubique.  7.19.14

 These are some of the figs in the Vancouver yard.  The first of the season is Lattarula.   I might have left them one more day, but still very sweet.

Petite Aubique / Petite negri is close behind.  Lots of main crop forming too.

Hardy Chicago, not pictured.  No brebas but main crop growing fast.

Growing on the deck, the Smith in its second year, as well as starts of Dominick and Carini, each 2 feet tall, with start of baby figs.  On deck Lattarula cutting now grown to 2.5 feet tall.

Battleground figs to follow.  They show some promise too.

Smith.  First fig.  7.19.14

Dominick. First Figs.  7.19.14

Fruit Progress Report. 5.3.14

Hollywood Plum fruit set.  5.3.14

Shiro Plum fruit set.  5.3.14

 Fruit set so far.

Hollywood Plum.  Not a lot but better than I expected.  I did not hand pollinate this year.

Shiro Plum.  Much more than Hollywood.  I did not pollinate this one either.

Hardy Chicago fig.  Very few brebas.  Growth is good so far.

Petite negri fig / Petite aubique.  Generous production of brebas.

Hardy Chicago Fig.  5.3.14

Petite negri fig with brebas.  5.3.14

Fig Tree Progress Report.

Vancouver Brunswick Fig Tree

Brunswick ("vancouver" because the source tree was here in Vancouver) - survived move to Battleground last Dec.  New growth was damaged by late frost.   Growth this year was 7".  No figs this year.  No concerns about green twigs.  This tree is mature, all growth is well lignified.

LSU Champagne.  Height now 4'8", all of which is new, grown from cutting this year.  Rapid growth due to fertigation while grown in container.  Also chickens were housed in this spot for a few weeks.  I had pinched the top to stop growth / encourage branching.   Today I picked the first two ripe figs.  Sweet.  Concern:  About the top foot is green with minimal lignification.  Will the top survive freezing?

Atreano.  Height now 5', all of which is new, grown from cutting this year.  Rapid growth due to fertigation while grown in container.   Also the chicken issue, above.  I had pinched the top to stop growth / encourage branching.   There are 2 large figs, still green.  Will I get ripe ones before frost?  Concern:  About the top foot is green with minimal lignification.  Will the top survive freezing?

Champagne and Atriano fig trees.

Row of fig trees.

Carini.  Height now 3'6", all of which is new, grown from cutting this year.  Rapid growth due to fertigation while grown in container.  I had pinched the top to stop growth / encourage branching.   There are still 2 large figs, still green.  I have eated a few from this tree.  Early starter.   Will I get ripe ones before frost?  Concern:  About the top 6" is green with minimal lignification.  Will the top survive freezing?

Petite negri.  Did not measure.  Knee high, new growth about 6".   Planted 2012.  Slow grower, had chewing animal damage last winter.  New figs did not have time to mature.

Smith.  My fastest grower this year, although Champagne and Atreano were close.  Since I pinched the tops of all three to encourage branching, comparison is difficult.  4' Tall.  Did not grow as much after planting as those other 2 listed so far.  No figs this year.  Some concerns about  lack of lignification but not as much as those two listed.

Front - Back:  Carni, Petite negri, Smith, Sal's, Tiger.

 Sal's.   Now 3'9", of which 9"  is new.  Same frost problem as Brunswick.  Planted last summer.  About half dozen new figs this year, some of the best tasting.  It should be well established now.  I thought it might take off and grow faster, but this is a more difficult site and it was not fertigated.  No frost concern, the growth is well lignified.

LSU Tiger.  3'5", all of which is new, grown from cutting this year.  Same fertigation as the other new fig trees.  Competed with Carini for the first ripe figs on new trees.  Lignification looks better than the other new trees.

The containerized trees are spares - go keep in garage as replacements, in case the in-ground trees don't survive the winter.  They can be give-aways if the in-ground trees do survive.  They are smaller than the planted ones.  I chose the biggest ones for planting.

The potted trees did not get watered in the past 2 weeks, and are entering dormancy.  Brunswick is also entering dormancy, and the others are beginning to lose leaves / yellow leaves as well.

Container fig trees.

Kitchen garden harvest

 Kitchen garden is winding down.

I appreciate each and every pepper, tomato, and fig.

I picked the watermelon.  It turned out to be underripe.   Very bland, not very sweet.  Chickens got most of it.

Blacktail mountain watermelon

Birds got a lot of the figs this year.  I didn't net the trees.  Next year, I should.  I have the net.  I did not have the energy.

Today I picked and ate, 2 more figs from the Sal's Fig tree.  Those continue to be very good.  It's nice to have fresh figs at the Battleground place.

Not ripe enough for full flavor and color

Kitchen Garden

Today...

I picked a bowl of ripe figs.  Most were Petite Negri and Hardy Chicago.  Two Lattarula.

I picked a big yellow bell pepper.

And a few Thai peppers.

Minnesota Midget Cantaloupe

 The first cantaloupe.  I've been watching for ripeness.  Today when I picked it up gently, the stem detached itself from the vine.  So it's ripe.

The flavor was good.  Tasted just like a cantaloupe.

This is a convenient size.  Like a grapefruit.  It ripened soon enough for us to get a taste.  There are a few more on the fine.  None went to waste.  The chickens like the seeds.

Minnesota Midget Cantaloupe

Butternut Squash

 One of the watermelons developed a big hole in the size.  Then spoiled.  So the chickens got it.  They liked it

Another watermelon is looking almost ripe.  Maybe tomorrow.

The butternut squash is my first attempt at Winter squash.  Nice size for the two of us.

These were I-phone pics.  I misplaced my camera.  The colors are a little off. My hand is not that pink.  But the melon looks right.

Some of the harvest 9/21/13

Figs.

LSU "Tiger" Fig

 This is the first fig from the LSU "Tiger" fig that I started from cutting earlier this year.  There is a red tinge.  The fig was near ground level.  An animal had removed it from the tree and ate out the other side.  As a result of exposure, the inside was somewhat moldy and did not appear edible, so I did not taste it.

This is the first fig of the year from the Battleground place.  The situation for this tree - just a start - is so unnatural, I won't predict what that means for next year.  By "unnatural", I mean the tree was started from cutting in January, given TLC on the deck all summer long, and planted in the ground in late summer.  The big test now - will this Louisiana - bred fig survive a Pacific NW winter?

"Petite negri" Fig tree

 Petite negri fig tree.  from fig forum, properly named "Aubique petite".   Lots of ripening figs now.  Tree is about 13 years from a small twig-sized start.

"Hardy Chicago" fig tree.

Fig harvest today

 Hardy Chicago fig tree.  Fair production now.  I missed some, overripe.  About 10 years from a cutting start.

Also harvesting Lattarula figs.  Those are the sweetest of the bunch.  The fig harvest photo includes a few figs - I had a much larger bowl of figs not included.

Not pictured, yet, is a ripening fig on Carini.  Like the Tiger fig, also on a tree started from cutting this year, and at ground level.  I placed some plastic mesh around the fig last night.  Check today for whether the fig is still there and intact.

Fresh fruit today.

Fresh fruit today

Plum "Shiro", Lattarula figs, wild blackberries

Lattarula and Petite negri / Aubique petite figs

Tomato "Black Prince"

Good time for fresh fruits.  Shiro is so juicy it takes a towel to eat it.  First large tomato of the year, Black Prince.  I had a few Sungold and a couple Super Sweet 1000 yesterday.  So good....  Now I know why I do this.

Smith Fig Tree Graduation. Now into the real world of in-ground FigTrees.

Smith Fig.  View of roots.

Too many trees on the deck.  With 2 Smith Fig trees, about equal size, I decided to plant one at the Battleground place.  Original plan was overwinter and wait until Spring.  However, by planting one in-ground now, I have a chance to see if it will survive winters here.  If not, I can keep the other in container and overwinter in garage.  Or not - might be too much trouble.

If it has a chance to harden off, I think it will survive the winter.  No "TLC" plant food now.  Just water to keep it alive and let roots grow into surrounding soil.

Root close-up

It is not root-bound.  Some winding roots.  This is one of the few cases of my planting without slicing into the root ball, or teasing them apart.  Fig roots are aggressive, so will have no problem growing outward.  Some references recommend intentionally confining the roots, to restrict growth.  I don't want to reduce feeding roots during Summer planting.  I did the same procedure with Carini fig.  It wilted a little.  Not much.

Smith Fig.  Now in the ground.

Fig Grove #1

I mixed a little homemade compost into the fill soil.  Not much.  I poured 2 gallons of water into the hole to soak in.  Then placed tree into hole, filled in with mildly amended original soil, watered in, and mulched with straw.

Smith is an old heritage family variety in Louisiana.  Some wriers state Smith is the best of all figs.  Some of that could be variety, soil, climate....  Will it do well here? Survive winter here?  This is an experiment.  Buff or yellow skin, red inside.

The little fig grove.  From close to distant (front to back), Carini, Petite negri (possibly re-identified as Aubique petite - via Figs4fun website), Smith, Sal's.  Behind Sal's, not visible, is truncheon cutting, now growing, Lattarula.  I may add one final tree but the spot is not perfect due to shade via a growing cherry tree on neighboring property, south of the fig grove.

This is a nice spot.  Mild grade, down-slope to west and south.  South of house, so warmer in winter.

Edit 7/25/13:  Planted LSU Tiger fig tree in the location where I had the Lattarula truncheon starts.  My goal was to dig up the Lattarula starts and give them TLC for faster growth.  However, they do not appear to have roots.  I can do much better with fresh starts, can think about that next year.  Meanwhile, the row is completed, with 3 new fig tree starts, and the 2 existing small trees started previous years.  LSU Tiger is usually just called  "Tiger".  Since Panache is also sometimes called "Tiger" - incorrectly -  it's less confusing to add the "LSU".  Which also designates the origin for this variety.

Carini Fig. Planted in-ground.

Carini fig

This is one of the Carini fig trees.   I started them from cuttings this winter.  I planted it in-ground today.  Most of the cuttings will remain in containers until Fall or Spring.  This start is knee-high.  I planted in the native soil, mulched with an ince of home made compost, then mulched with home made grass straw.    Watered deeply.

Since this grew nicely, but the growth looks like it will harden off before Winter, I think it's OK to plant it in ground.   This location is South of the house.  Full sun. There is room for a row of about 6 fig trees.  So far the row has a Sal's, Petite negri, and 2 other starts.  I plan to move those starts out, and replace with a Smith, Atreano, and Champagne.  Plan subject to change as seasons pass.

Petite negri fig looks promising.

Petite negri

This may be the best crop yet from Petite negri fig.  The branches are loaded.  The quadripedal squirrel guard is standing guard.

Petite negri

Fig Trees at Battleground

Sal's Fig

Truncheon Cutting.  Lattarula.

Petite negri

Vancouver Brunswick tree was already discussed this week. Sal's Fig is about waist high.  The newest leaves are full size and without distortion.  The older leaves were distorted.  Possibly a late frost effect.  There are fig buds so maybe this will produce some figs this fall.

Late winter I planted 4 truncheon cuttings from my Lattarula tree.  A truncheon cutting is a large stick cut from the tree, and stuck into the ground.  These were 2 feet long, 1/2 inch thick.  I stuck them into the wet ground about 1 foot deep. Did not expect growth.  Today I was mowing and saw these two growing.    It will be interesting to see if they establish, grow some more this summer, and survive next winter.  I'm not concerned about them.  I already have a nice Lattarula started from cutting, much bigger than these, in a container.  Lattarula is vigorous, so these cuttings could do well.

Petite negri.  As for the Sal's fig, the newestt leaves are not distorted.  This tree may get off to a slow start, same as its parent tree did, years ago.  This is a slow growing variety.