Hunt...A bit Impressed

[ktrain]

I have a single breba off of my Hunt tree.
Now the only reason I have this tree is because I'm a georgia resident and as most of us know it's the only fig bred in Georgia.
Pretty easy to look up the story if you like.

Now...I have not been impressed with this tree at all the last couple years and almost let it go.
It's just another Celeste type of fig...but this breba....

Was actually flavorful and dang near perfectly ripe.
I do believe it has earned it's stay...see how it does this summer with the main crop.

 

[Clickswithdogs]

@ktrain That looks delicious! What's the flavor like?

 

[ktrain]

@ktrain That looks delicious! What's the flavor like?

It was a lot like a Celeste, with a tad bit of a floral type of taste.
Good enough to keep around. lol

 

[Figgerlickinggood]

It was a lot like a Celeste, with a tad bit of a floral type of taste.
Good enough to keep around. lol

When I first started to grow figs I remember looking up about it. Said it was a mountain fig.

 

[Clickswithdogs]

It was a lot like a Celeste, with a tad bit of a floral type of taste.
Good enough to keep around. lol

Thanks! It's been on my WL for a while. I might bump it up higher now that you said "floral taste."

 

[ktrain]

Thanks! It's been on my WL for a while. I might bump it up higher now that you said "floral taste."

Well that's just a breba, lol
I think there are much better figs out there.
The main crop has not been that Impressive.
I usually wouldn't even post about it but this was an exceptional breba

I just don't want to mislead you when there are lots of better figs to go after.

 

[Figless]

@ktrain Your hunt tree is the only fig tree that's bred in Georgia? This is a backstory I would like to hear

 

[scott_va]

I never found the Hunt fig to be that impressive either, but then I never got a breba. Benjamin Weeks Hunt’s house (Panola Hall) is still there in Eatonton and supposed to be haunted (not by him) but by Sylvia (a Civil War era bride). There is a fig tree in the backyard. I don’t know if it’s a Hunt.

 

[JMF75]

Does excellent up here in the Northeast. I have one inground that performs well against rain and humidity. Ripens early and very productive. Just my experience.

 

[ktrain]

Ok im issuing a correction.

This is why we must be diligent in making sure our information is spot on, or at least as much as possible.
I've never really read too much about the Hunt fig breeding, just facts that were given to me.
So....I was told that Celeste was used as a parent in the breeding...WRONG.
It was Green Ischia and a Caprifig that I have not been able to identify yet.
Everything just says a "California Capri".
I must say though looking at the figs and the leaves, I would have thought Celeste had something to do with it.

NOW .... I have read that LSU used Hunt in its breeding program.
I will be looking this up as well.

Lesson learned, people can tell you what was told to them....but do your own research.

If anyone has any info to add please do.

 

[GoodFriendMike]

Ok im issuing a correction.

This is why we must be diligent in making sure our information is spot on, or at least as much as possible.
I've never really read too much about the Hunt fig breeding, just facts that were given to me.
So....I was told that Celeste was used as a parent in the breeding...WRONG.
It was Green Ischia and a Caprifig that I have not been able to identify yet.
Everything just says a "California Capri".
I must say though looking at the figs and the leaves, I would have thought Celeste had something to do with it.

NOW .... I have read that LSU used Hunt in its breeding program.
I will be looking this up as well.

Lesson learned, people can tell you what was told to them....but do your own research.

If anyone has any info to add please do.

I don’t have my notes with me.
But it may have been C-1 that was used as it’s father. It is a Caprifig from California and not an LSU fig. It was just used at LSU.

 

[ktrain]

I don’t have my notes with me.
But it may have been C-1 that was used as it’s father. It is a Caprifig from California and not an LSU fig. It was just used at LSU.

Cool cool,

Some of the web sites state that Hunt was used in the LSU breeding program but how is that?
If you take Hunt and a Capri then you get....an LSU fig?...

That's why im going to do more searching, just want to know how true.
I was going to check the LSU sites but had to hit the hay.

Thanks Mike.

 

[Clickswithdogs]

Well that's just a breba, lol
I think there are much better figs out there.
The main crop has not been that Impressive.
I usually wouldn't even post about it but this was an exceptional breba

I just don't want to mislead you when there are lots of better figs to go after.

Thanks for the honest evaluation and the much-needed reality check. Sometimes my desire to grow more figs overrides common sense.
I'll move it back down the list.... for now.

 

[ktrain]

Thanks for the honest evaluation and the much-needed reality check. Sometimes my desire to grow more figs overrides common sense.
I'll move it back down the list.... for now.

That's a good plan, don't remove it, just put it on hold while you chase better num nums!
Honestly though, many many better ones.
You are in n.e. Ga?
Do you mind if I ask where about?

 

[scott_va]

Ok im issuing a correction.

This is why we must be diligent in making sure our information is spot on, or at least as much as possible.
I've never really read too much about the Hunt fig breeding, just facts that were given to me.
So....I was told that Celeste was used as a parent in the breeding...WRONG.
It was Green Ischia and a Caprifig that I have not been able to identify yet.
Everything just says a "California Capri".
I must say though looking at the figs and the leaves, I would have thought Celeste had something to do with it.

NOW .... I have read that LSU used Hunt in its breeding program.
I will be looking this up as well.

Lesson learned, people can tell you what was told to them....but do your own research.

If anyone has any info to add please do.

Part of the confusion could be that Hunt used Brown Turkey, Celeste and Green Ischia to breed, but Condit reported Hunt as a cross between Green Ischia (Verte) and unknown caprifig from California. The timing is also questionable. Hunt sent two articles on fig breeding to the U Ga Bulletin in 1911 and 1912 and wrote The fig in Georgia in 1914 GA State College Ag Bulletin. The answer of when the Hunt fig was created may lie there or in Hunt’s later correspondence with Stuckey

Georgia Experiment Station records

Green Ischia was cited as one of the top figs in Georgia in 1903 by Starnes, maybe that’s why Hunt used it. Also interesting to know Hunt is a parent of LSU Purple along with C1 I think.

 

[Clickswithdogs]

That's a good plan, don't remove it, just put it on hold while you chase better num nums!
Honestly though, many many better ones.
You are in n.e. Ga?
Do you mind if I ask where about?

I think I was intrigued because Hunt is from Eatonton, home of Alice Walker and Joel Chandler Harris, so roughly 70 miles away, and it's supposed to be tasty and rain-resistant. Also, because it's an heirloom of sorts, bred back in the 1920s (from the limited info I've found), and I like the idea of preserving worthwhile, older varieties, even if they're not always the most productive or flashy. ( I grow a lot of different heirloom tomatoes for the same reason.) But, yeah, there are probably many others that I should try instead. Or else throw myself into learning how to graft.

Are there any varieties that have been outstanding for you that you'd recommend for this area?

I'm in Jefferson, just over 11 miles from downtown Athens. I moved to the Athens area for school and stayed for the UGA Small Animal Emergency Clinic and Hospital.

 

[ktrain]

I think I was intrigued because Hunt is from Eatonton, home of Alice Walker and Joel Chandler Harris, so roughly 70 miles away, and it's supposed to be tasty and rain-resistant. Also, because it's an heirloom of sorts, bred back in the 1920s (from the limited info I've found), and I like the idea of preserving worthwhile, older varieties, even if they're not always the most productive or flashy. ( I grow a lot of different heirloom tomatoes for the same reason.) But, yeah, there are probably many others that I should try instead. Or else throw myself into learning how to graft.

Are there any varieties that have been outstanding for you that you'd recommend for this area?

I'm in Jefferson, just over 11 miles from downtown Athens. I moved to the Athens area for school and stayed for the UGA Small Animal Emergency Clinic and Hospital.

Ah cool, that's definitely a jog from my area.
I totally understand about keeping figs like this around.
It is part of history after all.
I'm not trying to deter you from getting it, and if you want to hold off until the end of the season, once dormancy hits I can send you cuttings.
Just say the word and they're yours.

 

[Clickswithdogs]

Ah cool, that's definitely a jog from my area.
I totally understand about keeping figs like this around.
It is part of history after all.
I'm not trying to deter you from getting it, and if you want to hold off until the end of the season, once dormancy hits I can send you cuttings.
Just say the word and they're yours.

Thank you so much!!! You, sir, are a scholar and a gentleman, and I am saying "the word" very loudly, even though you can't hear me.
Fun Fact: If you're old enough to remember him, Frank Zappa wrote a song called "Uncle Remus." So there's another reason for me to want Hunt. (Joel Chandler Harris wrote the Uncle Remus Stories, sort of Aesop's Fables for the Southeastern US of the time.)
I've got to run and pick up my dog food order now, so I will continue going down the Hunt history rabbit hole tonight.

 

[ktrain]

Thank you so much!!! You, sir, are a scholar and a gentleman, and I am saying "the word" very loudly, even though you can't hear me.
Fun Fact: If you're old enough to remember him, Frank Zappa wrote a song called "Uncle Remus." So there's another reason for me to want Hunt. (Joel Chandler Harris wrote the Uncle Remus Stories, sort of Aesop's Fables for the Southeastern US of the time.)
I've got to run and pick up my dog food order now, so I will continue going down the Hunt history rabbit hole tonight.

I was just listening to some Zappa yesterday lol.
Very fun digging around in the past.
We will most likely be going into dormancy at the same time, so plan for then.
I will follow up with some main crop pics once they start ripening.

 

[Clickswithdogs]

@ktrain Sweet! Nice to know you're also a fan.
Later tonight, I'm going to sift through the bulletins that @scott_va posted earlier.
I will be ready! My local Pro-Mix/Sunshine #4 source (Ace Hardware in Athens) closed, but I'll have something else figured out by then, I hope. Can't wait to see what your main crop figs are like!