Late season winners and losers

Figgin' A

Figgin' A

Well-known member
I don't have many figs left, just a few stragglers on Tia Penya, WM#1, I-258, Bourgasotte Grise, Crozes, Craven's Craving, and Socorro Black. Last year, Unk. Prosciutto tasted great until early October, and so did VDB. Then the weather got much colder, and all my figs started to taste like fig-flavored zucchini. 

This year is a bit different. The weather has been much warmer in October and sunnier, with only two mild frosts so far. Having given all my figs a headstart, I don't have much left on the trees. Of those that still have some figs left, there was one clear winner, which I did not expect it to be.

The winner was sweet... really sweet with a rich, complex flavor. It was almost as good as it was in July. It had a different taste compared to summer ripened but still excellent. Anyone wants to guess which one it was? It was Tia Penya. And this wasn't a one off. I picked three figs over the past week, and all three had a robust flavor with great sweetness. All three were much smaller than the summer-ripened ones. There was something different about them. Like, the had a fantastic flavor, but in a different way from the summer-ripened. These had a darker color, more dense, perhaps a slightly different flavor profile. But still very impressive.

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Runner up - WM#1. Still going strong. Not as as good as summer-ripened, but still sweet and jammy.

No picture.

Next up - Bourgasotte Grise. Still sweet and jammy, with very good flavor.
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I-258 - Not bad, but far from summer-ripened. I noticed the same last year. This one needs heat and sun.
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Socorro Black - OK. Just like last season, this one lost its sheen as soon as nights became cooler and the sun became weak.
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Crozes - Meh. I expected more out of a Mt. Etna in cool weather, but 5-6 figs in a row were quite mediocre, far from the fantastic sweetness and peach flavor they had all summer.
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Craven's Craving
Still figuring this one out. Had three figs swell and getting soft. One was ripped off by a squirrel and left on the ground. Two more are now secured in clear propagation shells. I hope they ripen in the next 4-5 days while the weather is still good.
 
Wow, they look great. I forget, are you in the Bay Area or wasp land? Those figs look so good I suspect some are pollinated.


Never mind. Canada
 
@"Oak Fig"#32 
All your pictures look amazing to me. Perfectly ripe, jammy, juicy sweet, and Berry delicious. It's clear from the pictures why [font='Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]Tia Penya tasted the best. Photogenically fantastic, it just looks on another order of being. Such a deep Berry purple, looking densely sweet. With a (jewel-like quality) to the rich Pulp. Congratulations on all your autumn figs. They all look desirable, juicy sweet, Jammy, and delicious. Looking more like summer fruit, than end of season.[/font]
 
Those look great. I feel the same on the I-258 it was still trying to ripen on me even in October.
 
[font='Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]Those look great. I feel the same on the I-258 it was still trying to ripen on me even in October.[/font]
 
[font='Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]Those look great. I feel the same on the I-258 it was still trying to ripen on me even in October.[/font]
 
[font='Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]Those look great. I feel the same on the I-258 it was still trying to ripen on me even in October.[/font]
 



@"Figless"#18 

Thank you. I agree, for the most part they do look similar to summer ripened, perhaps lacking honey, but the colors are fantastic. It's hard to belive that they ripened here with the temps averaging 55F over the past two weeks. But once you bite them, you can tell...

@"Vitooch1"#96 

Glad we lucked out with the weather this year. Last year's October after the 5th wasn't nearly as good. I am also glad to see some varieties ripening well into cool weather. I will time those next year to have some ripen later so I have a longer harvest.
 
@"Oak Fig"#32 - at some point, if you're amenable I may need to take the 40km, 7 hours drive through city traffic to get a little piece of that Tia Penya  :D

Looks stellar!
 
Joe,
I have a three car garage right under the family room I setup a 7’ X 12’ poly greenhouse inside one of them, and threw two heavy duty tarps on top of it. The LED lights generated enough heat to keep temp over 65 F, but without a dehumidifier it was too humid at well over 80%
Not only did the dehumidifier bring humidity down to about 45% but also generated enough heat to help keep the space warm enough. So I alternated between lights on & dehumidifier on. It worked great.
 
Very interesting. My garage is on the side of my house and is if anything, dry. 

So many different climates and different ways to deal with them.
 
These photos were taken shortly after I set it up. Afterwards, I added more lights, a fan, a dehumidifier, and a space heater that I never had to use.

Edit:
The white dehumidifier can be seen in the third photo, on the floor in between the two tables. The fan can be seen as well hanging against the back poly wall, with Govee thermo in front of it 😀

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This coming winter, instead of using the greenhouse, I will build a wooden frame / structure inside the garage that is 10’ X 16’ X 8’ high and enclose it with tarps. 
The plan is to bring them out of dormancy around March 10th.
Another note worth sharing, I did not have to harden off the trees at all. I opened the garage doors when the weather was mild enough in April, and that exposed the trees to UV rays without causing any damage to new growth. The garage is south facing.
 
That's a commitment! 

Once upon a time my wife asked why we never parked the car in the garage in winter..... I insisted that garages were meant for fig trees..... She never bought that but she let's it slide.... She loves eating figs as well 

For us it's worth clearing some snow off the car
 
Is it not odd that y'all way up north are the ones who are still getting great looking figs when here way down south the season is basically over. lol
What the flip flop is going on? :dodgy:
 
Almost makes one put down their beer and pick up some Tullamore Dew  :D

I figured it was because y’all finished your figs in August because ours woke up so late. Quality is down for sure but at my house it looks like I’ll be into November without a frost. By next week it’ll only be figs from drying or making jam
 
@TorontoJoe, thanks, Joe. Absolutely. And you can have a cutting of Craven's Craving if you are still interested. No need to waste 7 hours of your life on the worst traffic in North America though :D , we can meet in downtown TO.

@"TorontoJoe"#1 

I thought my unheated, attached garage was dry until I put a 4x8 grow tent in it with 18 watered trees (too many, I quickly realized). I started getting insane condensation inside the tent once the lights went off, and often on the windows and the walls. A good dehumidifier and a few fans to blow the air inside the tent are a must!

I don't understand how to fix the problem I am having where all my comments from different posts in a thread, as well as when posted as a separate post, not a comment under someone's post, get moved and stacked on top each other and separated by a line. Anyone? @"TorontoJoe"#1 ?
 
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