Here is some info on harvesting. There is no particualr date - the fig tells you when it is ripe. Hopefully someone else can help with what is the variety. You may need to wait until they ripen & post a photo of a ripe fig cut open along with a leaf. I live across the Columbia from you in Vancouver. So far I dont have any ripe ones yet but expect them to start ripening in about one month. Here is a link that might be useful: when is a fig ripe?

Hi, Don't throw away those hard, inedible okra pods! If you have any of those okra pods that are hard, you can lay those "green" pods out on screens in the sun or someplace warm to dry on paper towel-covered cookie sheets, like inside a greenhouse or a sunny room, and they will go ahead and dry and you will have seeds for next year. Each pod produces about 50 or more seeds. I grow Cajun Okra that I got when living in Louisiana years ago. The clemson spineless are too prickly for me to handle and I break out from contact with their leaves, but no problem with my old Cajun Okra at all and they have a better flavour to my thinking. I lived in Louisiana for more than ten years and got seeds from some locals there, seeds for veggies you can't get anywhere else, at least back then (before the internet and eBay). When I moved up here to Okie where my parents live, I brought a paper bag full of dried okra pods with me. (these are not the same seed sold by seed companies as "Cajun Okra"). I still have some intact pods and they still germinate and grow into plants. I moved up here in 1980. I also grow the Purple Velvet Burgundy Okra that I got in Louisiana too. These make pods up to 10 to 12 inches long and yet are still tender and delicious. Most people here seem to be turned off by the color, but I find them to be beautiful. They also make gorgeous "edible landscape plants", as they are related to the Hibiscus and Mallows. These sell on eBay - 50 seeds for $1-$2. You certainly grow a lot of okra. Do you sell your okra or what? Sod Buster, the Tomato Man may not have lied to you about the "Louisiana Short" Okra. I never heard them called that, but there was a short variety I saw in Louisiana, used in Gumbo and Jambalaya, and for pickled Okra. Is yours a short plant or short pod??? The ones I saw had four ft. tall plants and made smallish pods about 3-4 inches long, just right for pickling. Maybe that is what you have??? Annie

Okay, so I gave it two more days. It purpled up about halfway before I decided it was too dangerous to leave it any longer - it was REALLY soft and starting to split at the bottom. Soft enough that I was afraid of holding it too hard, I felt like my fingers would go right through! I do bet I could have given it even one more day and it would have finished purpling but I didn't want to push it. It tasted good! The purple part was of course sweeter, but the whole thing tasted good. I've never tried a fig before so I'm not sure what it's supposed to taste like but I count it as a succes. Here is a pic of it before and after I cut it open!

C Wes how did you graft work out? I did my first graft today on persimmons. Hoping I get one to take :) My alphonso mango died but my Baileys is doing good. Im hoping it'll flower this year and fruit. Last year I moved into a new house and did not provide adequate lighting during the winter and a lot of my plants suffered. This year I brought them all inside and provided plenty of light. My plan is to plant several of the tropicals in the ground this spring and then build a structure around them to protect them during winter. So far this winter has been pretty mild so im hoping next year it doesn't get worse than this. Will make it so much easier to keep tropicals outside.