Golden Riverside Studio Photos

An amazing fig deserves the best photo treatment. I'm not sure why I didn't do it sooner. Perhaps I'll put together a coffee table book.

Tasting the BB Golden Riverside Fig 2018

BB Golden Riverside Fig
Picked 9/19/18
1 crop

Previous year's post.
2015 
2016
2017


Oh my beloved Golden Riverside. I've had her for about 3yrs and this year is the best I've seen from it. The tree shows a ton of productivity this year and the fruit is larger than ever. It's out growing its pot and I may just plant it in ground this year.

I've had a lot of requests for cuttings from this tree. It's just one tree so sorry folks there isn't much to go around.

The Golden Riverside is one crop fig. That ripens in September here.

On a day with 8 other main crop varieties and a couple not shown on camera. The Golden Riverside has stood out as still the Queen of main crop figs for me.

Mislabelled Black Madeira, Socorro Black, Golden Riverside, Vincenzo Main, Natalina Main

I really do enjoy this fig. There's so many pluses about it. It's produces huge fruit, productive, tasty and sweet. It's rare to get that kind of combo in fig. 

This year the flavors are honey like with great juiciness. I love that the juiciness are more like honey water than thick molasses. The sweetness is right where I like my figs to be. The syconium has a nice bite to it as well. Like biting into a firm pluot without the acidity. 

I took this fig to work and let some coworkers try it, one person said they are have a figasm as they were eating LOL.

Ben's Golden Riverside (9/19/18)

Main

Taste: 10

Sweetness: 8.5

Size: 16 (151 grams)

Productivity: 6

Total = 40.5

Dang you heavy rains!

I've been anticipating my Golden Riverside all year. Babying this thing and feeding it regularly. The tree has responded well and is loaded with extra large fruit this year.

Some of the fruit look ripe but to the touch they are still pretty firm. I did not want to pick it until it was at optimal ripeness. Figs do not ripen off the tree like other fruit do.

This is the largest fig ever from this tree. It topped out at 151 grams. A monster fig! However we've been having heavy rains all week and it caused the largest fig on the tree to split.

Sadly I knew what I had to do. I had to pick it off even though it was still quite firm. I want the energy from the tree going into the remaining figs instead of this monster with a huge split in it.

Plus I didn't want it to spoil and lose the opportunity of tasting it.

The beautiful thing about mid September is that it's when most figs begin to ripen. from left to right.

Sicily, Ronde De Bordeaux, Ben's Golden Riverside, Black Zadar, and Takoma Violet

The perfect snack plate for Sunday Football! Amongst my guest for the day they picked the Golden Riverside as their favorite fig.


151 Grams on this beast!

When I cut into it, the fig felt firm. However the inside of it was further developed than I thought. This fig has taken on so many appearances throughout the yrs. It's quite interesting to see.

So the moment of truth the taste test. I bit into the fig like eating a pear almost. The syconium was very firm but the pulp was sweet and very pleasant. Even on a fig that was not fully ripened. Flavor wise it's like a honey fig with a hint of jam. Sweetness was still quite good at this stage.

For a giant fig to be productive, taste good, and ripen in September here in Seattle. I have to crown it as the new king for main crop figs here in the PNW!!!!

The many faces of Golden Riverside

2018. 

2017

2016

November 2015

October 2015

Hard to believe that they are the same fig. But they are. 

My Little Fig Taste Tester

I love going into the yard everyday with Nolan. He absolutely loves figs! I'm happy to let him pick the fruit. It's a great feeling to see him enjoy the same things I do at only 2yrs old. he is somehow able to sniff out every ripe fig in the garden. He doesn't touch them until I give him the nod however.

He's a big fan of spider man and Iron man and gets so excited every time their movies come on.

That's a Marlow aka Olympian that he just picked.

Here he is trying to pick a Golden Riverside. 

It's not quite ready yet. I think this is going to be some of the largest fruit from this tree.

It's loaded too! Such a productive tree.

Golden Riverside Grown in California

A few years ago when we initially purchased the Golden Riverside. My brother Vince and I also bought a tree for our oldest brother who lives in San Jose. 

The other day he sent me these photos. His GRs are almost ripe! Mine are getting bigger but probably a month away from ripening. 

I miss my days in California. Minus the cost of real estate there nowadays. 1.4 Million for a 4 bedroom rambler is just insane!

So far around the same time this is what mine looks like in Seattle.

It's about to get Golden this year

Last year my poor Golden Riverside had no fruit. It was a victim of garage storage. I have windows in my garage and the little bit of light caused leggy growth which ruined fruit production. Luckily my brother's plant had figs. This year I took this fig out of the grenhouse in May and have been giving it a regular fertilization schedule and water.

It's happy and pushing out a good amount of figs. This picture is from 7/25/18. It should ripen in plenty of time.

**I have a ton of requests for this fig. Unfortunately, I sold off a couple of cuttings on Ebay. The winner informed me that they rooted fine but died upon up pot.

I also managed to root 3 cuttings but killed 2 when I went on vacation. It's still very scarce and I plan on growing out this one plant so that I have a back up for the next yr.

Learn more about it here

https://seattlegardenfruit.blogspot.com/search?q=riverside

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. 

October Fig Bonanza

It's early October and the time for ripe figs is here.

Tasting Video on the following figs:
Preto/Black Madeira?

Smith

Golden Riverside

Green Greek

Takoma Violet

Black Malta

Ronde De Bordeaux

Excel

Flanders

The biggest winner this year was a surprise. It was the Golden Riverside fig that my brother and I bought from a gentleman in Santa Cruz, CA.

It ranked right up there with the Black Madeira for me. It tasted like a Black Madeira crossed with a yellow fig. Very Distinct and Oh So Yummy!