Intro--Fig Newbie from Franklin County, VA

[DBJohnson]

Growing up in Mississippi and Alabama, fig preserves from both of my grandmothers was a breakfast staple. Picking figs without permission or damaging those trees was a spanking offense! Grandma's trees were planted from cuttings from her great-grandmother's tree that was planted when the family settled the area in the early 1800s. My Mom's tree is from a cutting of Grandma's tree and my first fig tree planted on my place here in Virginia is from Mom's tree. I brought it back and planted it about a month ago and it seems to be adjusting well to this area (new growth, no wilting).

My second and third ones came home from Ocracoke, NC, yesterday. One is called a "Pound Fig" because it supposedly produces massive purple/black fruit weighing nearly a pound. The other is supposed to be similar to a Brown Turkey but with slightly larger fruit (the elderly gentleman who sold me the trees and spoke with a bit of the Ocracoke "Hoi toid" accent couldn't recall the variety of the second tree). I got these trees from Annabelle's Antiques & Florist on Back Rd in Ocracoke for $10 each. Sorry...I got the last one he had for the Pound Fig, but hopefully he can steer you to his source or get more.

Anyway...yeah...a fig tree newbie. I'm not sure what the heirloom tree is, but based upon pics and comments on another thread here I suspect it to be a Southern Brown Turkey. Looking forward to seeing what comes from the two new ones. And looking forward to learning from all you fine folks here on this forum.

Good to meet y'all! Looking forward to the conversation.

[Hershell]

Welcome to the forum. I hope you have plenty of room for fig trees.

[Taverna78]

Ciao and welcome to you new home!

[fitzski]

Welcome to the forum. Before I joined the forum I only had 3 fig trees too, now I'm over 20.

Hope you have enough room for more.

[COGardener]

Welcome to the community, very nice story. You may want to post pictures of your family tree, the leaf and the fruit inside and out. There is a good deal of extremely knowledgeable people here, they may be able to help ID it.

[Harborseal]

Welcome! Enjoy those figs!

[jmaler]

Welcome

[Sarahkt]

Welcome! I hope you have room to put more fig trees, because you'll probably get them whether you have the space or not. Looking forward to your posts, especially when the "pound fig" fruits.

[rusty hooks]

Welcome...great information here....and all with the same addiction.....alot of serious enablers....have fun...

interesting story on the heritage tree....1800's...wow

[lilfiggy]

Glad to have you with us. You need to have a couple of things handy. Saw to cut down trees that are not figs and shovel to dig holes for new figs which I promise you WILL get. Fun and smart peeps on here. Joyce

[DBJohnson]

Thank you, everyone, for the warm welcome. I'm looking forward to learning from you all. I bought the 37-acre place I live on earlier this year and have plenty of room to spread out and expand. The yard is already being divided into rose garden and meditation grove, vegetable garden, fruit orchard, and now a section for a fig grove (I'm guessing room for 10-12 trees). Should I need to expand further than that, there are two hay pastures adjoining that will suit. The southwest pasture is earmarked for a filbert/oak grove for growing black truffles, but the northwest pasture has not yet been planned out yet.

[COGardener]

10 or 12 is a good start, I would plan for around 100...... or more. ....

[eboone]

Welcome Bryant, great place here to learn about figs and get the addiction fed.

[DBJohnson]

Update. I am getting my gig notes organized and did some digging for more information on the Ocracoke figs I bought in early July. I found the following article on the gentleman (Chester Lynn) who owns Annabelle's Antiques & Florist on Ocracoke. I called him and we talked about the fig trees to see if he remembered any more info. According to Mr. Lynn, the one I dubbed "Big Turkey" is similar to a Brown Turkey but is not the same and produces larger fruit. He calls this cultivar "Blanche Howard" after the 92-year-old lady whose yard hosts the mother tree. I am changing my notes to reflect this--Ocracoke Blanche Howard UNK.

http://ocracokeobserver.com/2011/08/01/figs-on-ocracoke/

[mgginva]

Welcome to the forum and welcome to Virginia. I live in Warrenton so perhaps we'll do a visit at some point.
mgg

[Dave]

Welcome Bryant

[Snaglpus]

The. Person you spoke to at Annabells's is Mr Chester Lynn. He's the island historian. He's writing a book on the history of the figs on Oracoke Island. The fig in your second picture is called Blanche Howard. It's the same as Brunswick. I just came back from the island last week. I donated some figs to Chester, Paradiso, and 2 others. I gave Chesters detailed information on the figs. I wanted to make sure he gets it right for his book.