Friday, October 6, 2017

Fig Tasting: The *Golden Riverside Fig


*Golden Riverside Main Crop (9/20/17) 3yr old plant
Taste: 9.5
Sweetness: 8.5  
Size: 7 (60G)
Productivity: 7 
Total = 32

My Brother and I have been growing This *Golden Riverside Fig for about 3yrs. The first year we gave it greenhouse protection. I've brought it indoors each year but screwed up and didn't take it out of the garage in time.  My brother however, left his outdoors through a relatively cold winter.  Cold enough that it killed all the outdoor birch trees in the neighborhood.  It also killed off all of the fig trees he bought from raintree. (Excel, flanders, and Texas Blue Giant)



However this tree did not seem to mind it at all and it was even more productive than all the previous years. Just look at all that fruit!



So many of us get caught up in Collecting as many varieties as possible that we forget to just buy varieties that just plain taste good. This is one of those figs that have all the qualities of a must have fig. 



It's tasty, cold hardy, productive, large, reliable, and unique looking. 



In my mind this tree may not be a Golden Riverside. The person we bought it from has had it in the family since 1920 and he doesn't know it's original name. He went online to Google the closest looking fig and found the Golden Riverside and started calling it that. 

By most accts the Actually Golden Riverside is quite insipid. 

This fig is by far one of the best Figs in our collection. Surpassed only by the Black Madeira. 








6 comments:

  1. When will you have starts available for sale? :)

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    Replies
    1. I've got a long waiting list on this guy. Unfortunately I cannot get a hold of the person who sells this fig any longer He has moved.

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  2. I don't think I've ever seen an orange fig like that! Very cool history behind it and I'm glad that it proved to be so tasty. Bonus points for surviving the winter as well. Thanks for sharing!

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  3. Thanks for the excellent review, Ben. Perhaps it is better to rename it to something else like Unknown Golden Riverside or Golden Riverside BB so people know it is not the same the regular, softball sized Golden Riverside green fig aka 278-128.

    The regular Golden Riverside was bid up or traded up before people realized yours is not a Golden Riverside despite what the previous owner called it.

    I understand the previous owner has moved but did he also move all the trees?

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