Fig America

Fig
A true gourmet delight, you should not live your life without feasting on this sweet, delectable
fruit. One of the easiest fruits to grow, figs are happy outdoors in the Maritime Northwest and in
pots or with winter protection in colder regions. To fully enjoy fresh figs you must grow your
own. When fully ripe and at their tender best, shipping them long distances is almost impossible.
Our Fig varieties have been chosen for their ability to ripen in our climate. Every summer we
enjoy walking through our fig orchard, wicker basket in hand, dreaming of the warm,
Mediterranean countryside where figs are native. Another plus for figs - deer dont like them!
Atreano
[3101]
$ 19.95
1
A productive and reliable variety for the Northwest and other regions of the US,
Atreano bears good crops of light green figs with sweet and flavorful, dark amber
flesh. A naturally dwarf tree, Atreano is good for container growing.
Latin Name:Ficus carica
Site and Soil:Figs like 1/2 day to full sun and well-drained soil.
Pollination Requirements:Atreano is self-fertile
Hardiness:Figs are hardy to between 0 & 5F.

Bearing Age:1-2 years after planting
Size at Maturity:8-10 ft in height, smaller with pruning.
Bloom Time:Flowers are not noticeable as they are inside the fruit
Ripening Time:July & September
Yield:10-15 lbs. or more per plant
Pests & Diseases:Figs are not bothered by pests or diseases in our region. Cover
plants with netting if birds are a problem.
USDA Zone:7
Sunset Western Zone:4-9, 12-24
Sunset Northeast Zone:31,32
Black Spanish
[3110]
$ 19.95
1
Grown for many years in Oregon, this reliable and productive variety bears
abundant crops of dark mahogany colored fruit. The very sweet, juicy, and firm fruit
is great for fresh eating, preserves, and drying. A naturally dwarf tree, Black Spanish
is well suited for container culture and can bear two crops a year.
Pollination Requirements:The Figs we offer are self-fertile
Pests & Diseases:Figs are not bothered by pests or diseases in our region. Cover
plants with netting if birds are a problem.
USDA Zone:7
Desert King
[3100]
$ 19.95
1
One of the best varieties for the Northwest, Desert King is very productive and reliable,
producing abundant, yellowish-green figs with sweet and richly flavorful, strawberry colored
flesh. Because it ripens in mid summer, Desert King is a great variety for gardeners in coastal,
high elevation, and other cool regions. Desert King also withstands fruit damaging late spring
frosts better than any other variety we grow.
Pollination Requirements:Desert King is self-fertile.
Ripening Time:late July - early August
Pests & Diseases:Figs are not bothered by pests or diseases in our region. Cover plants with
netting if birds are a problem.
USDA Zone:7
Sunset Northeast Zone:31, 32
Lattarulla
[3116]
$ 19.95
1
Also known as Italian Honey Fig, this reliable and hardy variety has been producing delicious
figs for many years in the Pacific Northwest. Lattarulla bears good crops of large, greenish
yellow fruit with sweet, light amber flesh. Lattarulla can bear two crops in one season, one
ripening in late July and the second in mid-September.
Pollination Requirements:Lattarulla is self-fertile
USDA Zone:7
Negronne
[3128]
$ 19.95
1
A naturally small tree, Negronne bears striking, almost black fruit, with tasty, sweet, dark red
flesh. Negronne is well suited for container culture or confined spaces.
Pollination Requirements:Negronne is self-fertile

USDA Zone:7
Stella
[3105]
$ 19.95
1
Following a friend's advice, we found this wonderful fig in a Southeast Portland neighborhood.
Stella was brought here many years ago by an Italian sailor and is now cultivated and prized by
his wife. Stella caught our attention with its large size, sweet, striking, purplish-red flesh, and
its ability to ripen in our cooler climate.
Pollination Requirements:Stella is self-fertile.
USDA Zone:7
Peter's Honey
[3136]
$ 19.95
1
Brought from his native Sicily by the late Peter Danna of Portland, Peter's Honey is one of the
best figs we have eaten. Peter's Honey bears good crops of light yellowish-green fruit with
delectably tender and sweet, dark amber flesh. In the Northwest, Peter's Honey ripens well in
warm city climates. In the country or in cooler areas, an ideal location is on the sunny side of a
wall or fence.
Pollination Requirements:Peters Honey is self-fertile
USDA Zone:7
Vern's Brown Turkey

[3144]
$ 19.95
1
To distinguish this variety from less reliable varieties also called Brown Turkey, we named it for
our friend and garden writer Vern Nelson. Vern's Brown Turkey has proven itself a reliable and
productive variety in the Northwest. It bears large, sweet and flavorful, dark brown figs with
light amber flesh, often producing two crops a year.
Pollination Requirements:The Figs we offer are self-fertile
USDA Zone:7
6 Types Of Figs To Try Right

Now
Aug 27, 2012 9:16 am
The strange and wonderful fig has a vivid history

BY ALASTAIR BLAND
11
84
+ ENLARGE
The incredible, edible fig.
+ ENLARGE
From texture to flavor, the fig offers more notes than your average fruit.
The fig is said to be among the very first plants

domesticated by the very first farmers in the hot and arid
Middle East. These agricultural innovators likely
discovered early just how easy it is to propagate a new fig
tree; by planting a fig branch in the ground, a new tree
identical to the parent will grow and produce fruit within

two or three years. It is hardy surprising, then, that such a
willing provider of nutritious and delicious calories was
quickly introduced to regions around the Mediterranean
wherever ships and camels could go. Over time, new
varieties were born and cultivated in Spain, Portugal,
Morocco, Turkey, Greece, France and many more areas.
In the 1500s, figs came to America, and by the 1700s
Spanish missionaries were planting them in their
settlements along the West Coast of Mexico and California,
where a commercial industry took root in the Central
Valley in the late 1800s. Today, the fig orchards of Fresno,
Madera and Kern counties, just west of the Sierra Nevada
mountain range, encompass about 10,000 acres nothing
compared to half million acres of California wine grapes,
but one of the largest centralized fig industries in the
world, along with those of Turkey, Italy, Spain and Greece.
Not all figs are created equal. Of the hundreds and

hundreds of cultivated varieties, several have been selected
as the mainstays of the worlds regional industries with
the Kadota, the Black Mission, the Adriatic and the
Calimyrna figs among the favorites of American chefs, and

the figs commonly seen in markets during the fig season,
which runs June through December in the Northern
Hemisphere. What differentiates each fig from the next
may be stark and obvious factors, like skin color (ranging
from almost white to black), flesh color (honey-hued to
plum-purple) and size (whether like marbles or like pears).
Figs may offer flavors of raspberry, maple syrup, caramel,
honey and almond, with certain varieties tending more
toward bright and zesty fruitiness and others more toward
the nutty, coffee-and-caramel end of the spectrum. Yet the
differences between types can be subtle enough that it
takes a wine-tasters attention and vocabulary to articulate
them.
Not that we need to for the point of a fig, since day-one
in the Fertile Crescent, has always been simply to enjoy it.
Following are six varieties of figs that make it easy.
1.
Black Mission
Among the most esteemed and available fig varieties in the
world, the Black Mission is believed to have originated
from a seedling tree somewhere in the Balearic Islands off
the coast of Spain. The variety, once known as the
Franciscana, became the chief fig of the Catholic missions

and as the variety was adopted by the growing fig
industry of California, the name Black Mission was born.
This fig is smallish, with dense pink flesh heavily studded
with seeds that give a pleasant crunch to the silky flesh.
The texture of a perfectly ripe one is sticky and jammy
and those left extra long on the tree, where the sun dries
them out like prunes, are extra sweet and gummy.
2.
Brown Turkey
This extremely popular and large fig is grown across the
world perhaps more than any other. Its origins go back to
the early 1700s, when it was first introduced to England
possibly from Italy. The fruits are elongated and pearshaped, with maple-brown skin. When shopping, beware
of Brown Turkey figs harvested too early, which will be
stiff and tough, and taste dull and flat. But those with
tender skin that bruises easily will be soft and velvety, and
heavy, sweet and juicy within.
3.
Sierra
A green-skinned fig, the Sierra is also a new variety,
introduced by breeders in 2006. The Sierra resembles the
Calimyrna, a favorite fig with roots in western Turkey. The
fruits are large and round, ideal for slicing open and
serving by the half, perhaps topped with cheese and olive
oil.
4.
Calimyrna
Often dried, this originally Turkish fig is outstanding as a
fresh fruit. Its large fruits split with ripeness as sap and
sugars erupt from the breaches in the skin. Such figs taste
of honey, jam and butterscotch, with a nuttiness from the
numerous seeds. All you can find are semi-ripe
supermarket figs? Then grill them, which brings out
caramel notes and a spicy holiday zest while softening
them into the sticky, sweet globs that the best figs are.
5.
King
This cold-tolerant fig is grown on small farms around the
country, mostly in cooler areas like the Pacific Northwest,
and places where cold winters preclude other varieties, like
the heat-loving Calimyrna and Black Mission. The King is
a teardrop-shaped, green-skinned fig with dark purple
flesh absolutely decadent when the fruits are allowed to
fully ripen. Shop at farmers markets or natural foods
groceries for the best bet at finding truly ripe figs.
6.
Kadota
The most common green type, the Kadota is believed to be
thousands of years old. Pliny the Elder is said to have
commended this variety, known in Italy as the Dotatto.
The skin is yellowish green, and the flesh particularly
smooth and silky. It is among the more commonly seen
fresh figs in California.

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Fig America

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Fig

Hardiness:Figs are hardy to between 0 & 5F.

Pollination Requirements:Negronne is self-fertile

Vern's Brown Turkey

6 Types Of Figs To Try Right

The strange and wonderful fig has a vivid history

The fig is said to be among the very first plants

identical to the parent will grow and produce fruit within

Not all figs are created equal. Of the hundreds and

Calimyrna figs among the favorites of American chefs, and

Franciscana, became the chief fig of the Catholic missions

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