"The Fig Thief" + Tasting Natalina, Sugar 12, Sals Corleone, Sicily, and Mavra Sika Main Crop

"The Fig Thief" + Tasting Sals Corleone, Sicily, Sugar 12,  Mavra Sika Main Crop and Natalina,

I love this time of year so many figs are going through their ripening stage. Below are the figs that I had a chance to taste this week.

Natalina (9/10/17) 2yr old tree
One Crop

Taste: 7.5
Sweetness: 7.5 

Size: 3  (23.3 grams)

Productivity: 2

Total = 20

This is a good fig. Good figs to me usually fall into the 7/10 range. I got this fig on 9/2016 from RJP164 on Ebay. The one in the video I picked too early. However I let the 2nd ripen thoroughly and it was spectacular.

Sugar 12  (9/10/17) 1.5yr old tree
One Crop

Taste: 5
Sweetness: 4.5

Size:  3 (21.2 grams)

Productivity: 1

Total =  9.5

The sugar 12 fig is no longer shipped from Reeds nursery is what I've been told since it shut down. I got some cuttings from my buddy Vinny almost 2yrs ago. It's an interesting fig. I thought it would be like a celeste flavored fig but it was quite different. I let this guy ripen to the point where it fell of with the slightest touch.

However it was not very sweet, the texture was a bit too squishy for my liking, I hope it gets better with age.

  

Sals Corleone (9/10/17) 2yr old tree **?
One Crop

Taste: 7
Sweetness: 6.5

Size:  1  (8.3 grams)

Productivity: 2

Total = 16.5

The cuttings were purchased from Jusftigs back in 2015.

I kinda have doubts that this fig is a Sals Corleone. It's much too small. So if you have Sals feel free to let me know. And if you have a correct Sals to spare I'd love to get one that is true. 

Regardless, as a fig its was quite tasty. Small but packs good sweetness and flavor.

Sicily (9/10/17) 2yr old tree
One Crop

Taste: 8
Sweetness: 7.5

Size:  2 (18.3 grams)

Productivity: 3

Total =  20.5

Acquired from Marcus back in August 2015. Another good Italian fig! Very tasty! Perfect sweetness strawberry jam consistency! Keeper for me.

Read more about it here

http://seattlegardenfruit.blogspot.com/2015/08/palermo-sicliy-black-fig-with-bit-of.html

Mavra Sika Main Crop   (9/12/17) 3yr old tree

Two Crops

Taste: 7
Sweetness: 7.5

Size: 2  (19.8 grams)

Productivity: 1

Total = 17.5

Originally purchased from Plant Creator on 10/2016.  This tree is experiencing some bad fig rust. Yet it still produces figs. They are marred and ugly but still very good. Much better than the breba crop for sure. 

I had fun making this next video with my son (even though he didn't really know he was going to be a star on it). I call it "The fig Thief".

Tasting Review of the Grantham's Royal * Mavra Sika Breba 2017

Tasting Review of the Grantham's Royal & Mavra Sika Breba 2017

Grantham's Royal Breba Fig.

So I've been waiting patiently for 2 yrs for the Grantham's Royal to produce brebas for me. From most reports it was suppose to be superior to the Dessert King Fig. So of course I've been excited to taste it.

It is a San Pedro Fig so outside of California it will not ripen a 2nd crop here. I have 2 trees from different sources and only 1 produced this year even though they are the same size.

There were a total of 6 Brebas that formed on this tree. But it may have been more than it could handle because it somewhat aborted 83% of them and focused on ripening only 1, which is pictured above. 4 became shriveled. Still edible but it was almost as if someone deflated them like little balloons.

And this one split really badly. After a hot day I watered the plant deeply which maybe the cause of it.

I hate wasting any fig since so much energy goes into growing it. So I picked everything off of the tree.

I'm not sure if this is common for this fig but there were extremely beautiful strips on this fig. The interior is also in the shape of a heart which makes this one of the most lovely looking figs I've ever seen. It almost looks like a rimada fig. Almost...

The interior of the fig is also quite unique. It's in the shape of a heart and is quite the work of art. I love the yellow color that starts at the top. The color transitions to a dark rich purple at the eye which are complimentary colors on the color wheel. I have to thank my many art classes for knowing that. So I have a great appreciation for the aesthetics of this fig.

It weighed 77.2 Grams, which is a above average for most figs. It's hard to judge a young fig tree on taste if the plant is only a couple yrs old. I feel that the true taste of any fig can only truly be assessed after the tree has been planted in ground and ripens in full sun vs a greenhouse after 3 years.

With that said, I think that the Grantham's Royal that I tasted off this young tree is Good. Not mind blowingly rich or sweet but good. There's more complexity in flavors than the Desert King. It was slightly watery and had melon tones. If it was a bit sweeter this would've been a great fig to eat!

This fig is definitely on the keep list for me.

Granthams Royal: Breba (7/19/17)

Taste: 7.5

Sweetness: 6.5

Size: 8  (77.2 grams)

Productivity: 1.5

Total = 25.5

Mavra Sika Breba

Online research shows that this a fig that Bass discovered in PA. It came from a woman who brought it over from the Chios Island of Greece. It grows in ground in PA and is supposed to be cold hardy. So this maybe a candidate to grow in ground here as well. 

This was originally purchased from Plant Creator back in 2015.

This tree isn't what you call productive. It had 2 brebas and 1 dropped. the other held on. For a tree this size I would have hoped to have atleast 4-8 figs on it. The fruit is small weighing in at 12.5 grams.

The taste of this single breba was not impressive. It was quite lackluster very marshmellowy texture with with a hint of berry jamminess.

I'm not in love with this fig. It's not very productive, too small and not very rich. It may have a different result if grown in ground. So I may reserve a small spot for it to see if it will change it's behavior compared to being grown in a pot. If it doesn't it will go on the remove list.

Mavra Sika: Breba (7/19/17)

Taste: 5

Sweetness: 5

Size:  2 (12.5 grams)

Productivity:  .25

Total = 12.2

Mavra Sika Fig

Mavra Sika Fig

Discovered by Bass in PA in a Greek Neighborhood. Looks like it produces Brebas.

Not my photo: but the fruit and leaves look quite similar to my Chicago hardy or Takoma Violet