Figs 4 Fun and the Zoo in San Diego.

Here is a link that might be useful: Figs 4 Fun

Thanks.....but where is the nursery? I see info linked to various sites and organizations but nothing on where Figs 4 Fun is located...or "Encanto Farms Nursery"?? Am I missing something?
I need an address. Will they do retail at the nusery?
Thanks!! This is the kind of thing I'm looking for. I live on the East Coast and I know next to nothing about California.

You can get all that info by e-mailing from the websites.

I agree with Pitangadiego. My wife and I went to San Diego last March. The San Diego Zoos are a must see. Fig 4 Fun is also a very interesting place to visit. Not only are there hundreds of fig trees, but many unusual trees like the Ice Cream tree. While walking in the front yard you can reach up and pick a ripe banana off the tree. Also ask about the BaJa fig tree while there.

Vern

Make sure to do a short drive on the very scenic coastal
route #1. Be aware of some crazy winding corners, some
deep drops down to the Pacific Ocean below on one side and,
potential rock fall-out from the high other side
(well protected now).
Nothing to do with figs, at least from my last drive there,
before I had become a fignut; but it was a spectacular experience.

Depending on your time allotment for this trip, San Diego is a good 8-9 hour drive south of where you will be landing. You say you will be going east from San Jose probably over the Pachinko (sp?) pass thru Fresno to Sequoia. Nice trip! Yosemite is a better Park though, IMHO. There are redwood groves in Yosemite too, best of both worlds. :-)

As to figs, UC Davis is a 2 hour drive NE towards Sacramento. I don't know if it is open to the public but maybe Jon can tell us?

From there you can easily get on Hiway 5 South thru Sacramento and the central valley to Fresno, about 4-5 hour drive. Once you get to Fresno, there are lots of fig processing businesses there. Maybe you can arrange ahead of time for them to give you a tour of their groves and business processes. Search Yahoo for figs in Fresno. Lots of links show up.

If you have time to come south to San Diego then by all means check out Jon's Figs4Fun nursery. It's an amazing jungle of bananas, figs, apples, passion flower vines, ice cream trees and many other unusual and yummy fruits. One of the best apples Ive ever eaten was at JonÂs place. Ice cream trees were fun too.

Unfortunately May will be too late for the poppy fields in the Antelope Valley (near Landcaster). I think they will be blooming in the next 3 weeks or so. ItÂs a sight to see!

Sue

Thanks to all!!
I'll have about 9 or 10 days and I don't mind driving.
I did 2,000 miles in 8 days about 2.5 years ago with my daughter.
I was thinking about having a look at some Bristol Cone Pines in the White Montains...thought about Death Valley...even considered hiking up Mt. Whitney but I'm not sure my son is old enough for something like that.
Sequoia is a must see for us. I love the place.
I have to decide how far south I want to go. If I go to San Diego I'm going to look up Figs4Fun.
I'm about to buy some more software for the new GPS. I should be able to find anything assuming I know where it is :-)

I believe it is Bristle Cone Pine. Death Valley will be getting pretty warm, and I believe you need reservations/permit to hike Whitney. If you haven't seen Yosemite, that is a must. In May the water falls will be spectacular this year. Davis is generally closed to visitors, unless they are groups (such as CFRG, NAFEX, and the like) or have research interests - but you can ask.

Looking through the archives, I found this string about nurseries in the South Bay (San Jose'ish area)...
http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/fruit/msg112007495405.html

My initial thought was San Diego is a bit off your route, but it sounds like you're going to head into that area anyway.

Have fun!

Thanks eat4fun. I read the thread and book marked it to read again before I leave.

figsin7b:

I used to go to Sequoia when I lived in the San Fernando Valley--closest one, as I recall, to the Valley. General Sherman tree is there--the largest living thing on Earth. Some trees are taller, but no other has the volume of mass as General Sherman.

Don't know if you'll find yourself in the San Francisco area, but if you do, check out the gargantuan fig trees at Alcatraz. Boat leaves from Pier 40 or 41, as I recall, every half hour, to Alcatraz. Pier 39 has been taken over by Sea Lions, and they hoist themselves up on the pier and lie about bellowing, shoving their weight around,and smelling up the place--to the tourists' delight, who can't seem to take enough pictures.

If you're interested in Figs--and history--I wouldn't dream of going to Ca and not checking out the SPANISH MISSIONS, 21 of them dotted throughout the state, mostly along El Camino Real (some more, inland) from San Francisco, southward. You know the story of the old Spanish Missions,no doubt--many of the California Figs (and other fruit trees) originated at these missions. I lived a few blocks from San Fernando Mission, at Sepulveda Boulevard and San Fernando Mission (or San Fernando Mission Boulevard off the San Diego Freeway), in the northern San Fernando Valley. Used to also go to Mission San Gabriel, in the L.A. area, and both these missions had profuse Fig trees, 30 years ago.

The central San Fernando Valley runs northward up the San Diego Freeway, from the junction of the Ventura Freeway and the San Diego Freeway. The off ramps proceeding north on the San Diego Freeway from that junction are Burbank Boulevard, Victory Boulevard, Van Owen, Sherman Way, Roscoe Boulevard (home of Budweiser Brewery, west), Nordhoff, Devonshire, San Fernando Mission Boulevard (get of there and go a mile East), and Rinaldi Boulevard at the northern end of the Valley.

You can get off at any one of these offramps, and drive the suburban neighborhoods (particularly from Devonshire, north) and find Fig trees in every 4th yard, or so--if things remain as they did 20 years ago.

On your way back south on the San Diego Freeway, take the Ventura Freeway west about 10 miles toward Ventura (east goes to L.A.), and take the Las Virgenes Canyon exit, south toward Malibu. That's actually Malibu Canyon to the locals, and you'll end up in Malibu, overlooking the Pacific Ocean (and Pepperdine University).

After checking out Malibu, go south on El Camino Real and look about Santa Monica, and check out the Santa Monica pier--then a little further south to Venice--the Venice boardwalk and Muscle Beach, where Arnold used to work out before he ended up in the Governor's mansion.

Retrace your path back north on Malibu (Las Virgenes) Canyon Road, east on the Ventura Freeway back to the San Diego Freeway, and head south. You'll pass LAX Los Angeles International Airport) in Inglewood, Long Beach (where the Queen Mary is now located) and the Port of Los Angeles, then keep booking south.

Of course you know where you'll end up proceeding South on the San Diego Freeway.

Don't forget to mark the Missions on your map as you travel south--Figs should abound.

There: that ought to keep you busy for awhile, and you should see Fig trees all along your journey.