My first good fig of the season, O'Rourke

[PawPaw Gene]

Today I picked my very first good fig of 2015. It was an O'Rourke and wow, it was delicious. In fact I picked two, one I ate immediately and enjoyed the sensation as my eyes rolled back into my head, and the second one I brought in to take pictures of and give to Linda. She said the same thing, wow, that's good. There are also 5 or six more that will be ready of the next couple of days. Yeah, the long awaited season has started.
''gene"

[Erick]

Oh man that looks good..!!

[newnandawg]

Looks good Gene. The first one is always good.

[AscPete]

Thanks...!
Looks like you had the patience to wait.

Cant wait until mine are ripe, main crop are still only pea sized, but I've got almost a dozen breba that are at the stagnant stage....

[Taverna78]

You guys love torture me 😢

[Chrisk]

Looks great Gene. I like your tactics also. You eat one first and bring the second to share. I cut one of two PH brebas left this afternoon and brought it in the house only to watch in agony as my wife ,sister in law and daughter devoured it..
the last one will be bitten right off the tree just like the birds do lol.

[COGardener]

Forget ceremony.... just eat it right off the tree!!!

I'm in!!!!

[PawPaw Gene]

Pete, it was patience that made me wait. Their ripening completely surprised me. The only reason they didn't get bird eaten is the fact that the whole orchard is covered with bird netting. I went into the enclosure to do some pinching of my Cajun Gold so while in there I got to looking around. The ones that ripened were on the far side of the tree and I couldn't see them from the outside. I will be patrolling every day now.
"gene"

[Chrisk]

Awesome,bird net the whole orchard,could you please post a couple of pics of your trees? At your convenience of course and thanks in advance!

[paully22]

Congrats Gene. Mine is about to ripen(breba) soon. I am very happy with
my O'rouke tree -- excellent taste, reliable & productive main crop. So far
my O'Rourke is the 2nd earliest to ripen main crop after Florea.

[Whiterk]

Nice looking fig. Makes my mouth water just looking at it. I also would like to see a pic of your bird netted orchard.

[PawPaw Gene]

It's a little hard to get a good shot of the netting over the orchard but these might give you some idea. And by the way, the idea of a net enclosure come from Ken Stockton out Arizona way. If you are interested I can give you some details. The enclosure is 55' X 20' and cost around 210 dollars when I put it up a couple of years ago. It has held up well but I do need to made a few repairs and a couple of modifications. I might also add another 30 to it's length after this season.
"gene"



Mr. mocking bird can't get in.

[rusty hooks]

That fig is truly a beautiful thing...congratulations

The torture is just beginning Mike...I feel your pain

[AscPete]

Gene,
Here are some photos of the O'Rourke leaves and figs so far...


Thanks for sharing the photos of the net enclosure, I would still need a wire fence to keep out the animals.

[Chrisk]

Thanks for sharing gene. Mr mocking bird can sit there and stare at those figs all he wants now! He must be pretty mad for the past three years lol. Thinking of going the same way with a black mission inground tree that is a very consistent producer from a very young age but I guess due to the dark color of the figs and the very sweet flavor, the hardest hit by birds and hornets/wasps. I have to pick them figs way too early to beat the flying thieves and I loose out in taste.

[PawPaw Gene]

Pete, I also have some chicken wire around the lower part to keep any animals from tearing the plastic. So far it has worked great.
"gene"

[AscPete]

Thanks, I will have to set up some netting later in the season...

[Harborseal]

Organza bags defeat the wasps but not the birds.

[AscPete]

Seems that my first figs of the season will be O'Rourke brebas.
They started swelling 2 days ago and are now developing their characteristic stripes before getting darker and fully ripe.
The main crop figs are only a few weeks behind.

[Whiterk]

Nice. Hope they turn out tasty for you this year.

[AscPete]

O'Rourke brebas harvested today.
They are mildly sweet with seed crunch and a very light flavor of "cane syrup". They are not as sweet or flavorful as main crop O'Rourke, I'll probably pinch them from the trees in future.

[growcrazie]

you're a better man than I am. If I get two I eat one and bring the other in the house and split it with my wife

[PawPaw Gene]

Pete do you think you will gain anything by pinching off the breba. If so what. I haven't noticed the breba interfering with the main crop production or ripening. Of course I'm way down south with a very long season.
"gene"

[AscPete]

Gene,
They're not as tasty as main crop figs and In My Observations they slow the development of main crop figs by a week or more. The're also not worth the bother to protect (extra heat) in winter storage.

[AscPete]

My first main crop figs of the season will also be O'Rourke. There are figs swelling on every fruiting branch. This one tree will be producing several figs daily over the next 2 - 3 weeks. There are main crop figs swelling on many other cultivars, including several different Celeste cultivars but these will be first picked!

[PawPaw Gene]

Pete mine is still producing good figs now and last year continued until cold weather set in. Let me know what you think of the taste of the fig. I'm not much in describing taste, but know what I like. To me a Celeste is a good fig and I can't say that I've eaten enought of others to say that they are better or not. O'Rouke doesn't taste like Celeste, to me it has an awesome flavor while the texture is about the same as Celeste. I give it a 10/10 on taste, production, and lack of spoiling.
"gene"

[AscPete]

Gene,
Thanks, good to know that they're "everbearing". I'll post the photos when they're ready.

I'm also a fan of Celeste and am currently growing several different cultivars. They always remind me of dates, almost too sweet.

Another underrated fig cultivar is Champagne which is also ripening at the same time as O'Rourke and Celeste. Champagne tends to ripen all its figs at once, usually within the span on 1 - 2 weeks.