Flanders, Osborn Prolific, and Adriatic JH salvaged after the first seasonal frosts

[Sarahkt]

Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving! Got back from a family trip to find that frosts have finally struck, and many of the figs are losing leaves. There's another frost expected tonight, so I had to pick a few soft figs or risk losing them altogether. These weren't fully ripe, especially the Osborn Prolific. The Flanders was bland, the OP just not ripe enough, but the Adriatic JH, despite still oozing latex, were surprisingly tasty.

None of the Flanders have been noteworthy this year, think they need more heat next year to develop good flavor. The OP was tiny, so it was a surprise just to get this one. It's still early days for the figs, but this year Adriatic JH remains consistently one of the best in my garden, even when they're harvested before their prime.

[COGardener]

It's nice see someone is still getting fresh figs if they are ripe or not.

what's your plan for more heat?

[Sarahkt]

Thanks, Scott. The frosts are what I get for even mentioning that I was enjoying a third crop. :/ The silver lining is that with the trees finally going dormant, can start to think about getting cuttings I promised out to the folks I set up gifts/trades with.

I have the Flanders growing in a 25-gal container in the middle of a lineup of other figs along the middle of the garden to help wall off the vegetable garden from the dog, and it's heavily mulched with other 1-gal figs nestled on top. The wind blows strong in the middle of the yard. I've seen others mention that putting potted figs in their driveway, and using the heat coming off the pavement along with the reduced wind chill, helps develop flavor in figs requiring more heat, so maybe moving to the paved area closer to the house in full sun will help.

[JohnnyK]

Enjoy. I wish I could get fresh figs off of my trees right now... my family and I have been scouting property in North Carolina the past few days (zone 8). Maybe in the future I'll be able to extend my growing season a little bit (I'm currently in zone 6)

[Sarahkt]

Happy hunting! Congrats on the zone upgrade.

[COGardener]

South facing wall will help. I often move trees onto my south facing driveway against my brown garage doors.... lots of heat!

[joann1536]

I picked several this morning, too. A Sal's Corleone, Petit Nigra, VdB, and a just getting soft Mission. The Mission wan't great. The PN and VdB were pretty good, though.

[Sarahkt]

Nice! I harvested a PN a few days ago, and it was great. Picked four more Adriatic JH this morning with just one unripe one wasted, and they were similar to yesterday's in quality.

How was the Sal's Corleone? I don't see many posts on this one.

[joann1536]

PN is definitely a keeper for me, too! So is VdB. The Sal's wasn't nearly as good as the one I'd had a couple of months ago, and it wasn't quite as good as I'd hoped it'd be. This little cold snap here in the Bay Area, I think, is going to leave a bunch of figs on my little trees this year.