My brown turkey is full of figs!!!

2 years ago

This is the tirst year for this many. I bought this tree as a seedling about 15 years ago when we lived up north. Kept it in a pot because it got too cold for it in northern KY. Brought it down with me when we moved here 7 years ago and planted it in the ground. It loved being planted and grew a lot…it's now about 6 feet tall. It madea few figs each years but this year is the best.

I just love fresh figs. People in the north never get the chance to try them. I grew up in Greece where they grew outdoors beautifully because the weather was very similar to our NE FL weather. And loquats too did great there…another favorite…but that that’s another story except to share this with you. Try asking a northerner if they have ever tasted a loquat and inevitably they say ”you mean a kumquat”

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bea (zone 9a -Jax area)
Original Author

2 years ago

Tony The fruit you say is called mushmul in Bulgaria we call musmula in Greece. In English we call them loquats! unfortunately you won't find them in zone 7. Loquats are very soft and must not travel well or maybe there is no market for them up north because I never saw them in any store when I lived up north. They are truly a southern fruit. In Greece growing up I couldn't wait for them to be in season…and it was a short one.

Here in Florida I have two loquat trees. One is very young and I might get a handful of fruit from it but the other one is going to produce a bumper crop. Can't wait!

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Comments (9)

whgille
2 years ago
Hi Bea

Congrats on the figs! I love them too. One of my favorite places to visit is Greece and I sampled those delicious white figs, loquats were good also and bigger size than the ones that are here.

My fig trees produce in the summer around June-July and I am thinking to get a new variety in a near future.

Silvia
bea (zone 9a -Jax area) thanked whgille
carolb_w_fl_coastal_9b
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
Yum - lucky you!

I planted a fig tree (said to be brown turkey) at our family home when I was around 15 and it grew for years - taller than the house - and always gave us plenty of little pinkish-purple figs, but sadly, it was dying and taken out this year. It hadn't born fruit for a long while.

I've had a Black Mission fig languishing in a pot for a few years now and I need to find a good spot for it.
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14tomatoes_md_7a
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
Silvia,

probably the best ripe figs I tasted were in Greece. If you recall, I posted a while back that both my grandmother and mother used to make green fig preserves (they were amazing).

Another fantastic fruit that I tasted from this region (that also grows in Greece) was in Bulgaria called: Mushmul. A real exotic taste that I still recall from 30 years ago. I ate them in December because they had to ripen for many weeks after picking. A real winter treat when no other fresh fruits could be had. I think this is it:

https://dengarden.com/gardening/What-is-a-Medlar

Tony
whgille
2 years ago
Hi Tony!

Bulgaria is in my bucket list of places to go and of course I remember the green fig preserves that you posted, I probably tasted something similar in my childhood, a very elaborate fig preserves made with unripe figs from my home garden. I tried dried caramelized figs in France and Italy.

That fruit Mushmul sounds amazing! I can live on fruits alone. My treat this year was Black Sphinx dates that I ordered from Arizona. Dry climates produce the best fruit including my figs in my Phoenix garden.

Silvia
dirtygardener
2 years ago
Someone told me last year that the fall figs were not as tasty as the summer figs, but hey -- figs are figs. My Celeste is over and done, but the Versailles (black) is leafing out again, so who knows? I might get a few more figs this year.
oldmangroot
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
That fruit, the mushmul, is actually called the ”open-arse” or medlar in English and is not a loquat. it was once one of the most popular fruits, and is only eaten when rotten, not ripe. fun stuff!

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/medlars-how-open-arse-fruit-could-be-making-comeback-a7812711.html
sultry_jasmine_nights (Florida-9a-ish)
2 years ago
Speaking of Loquats, does anyone think they will bear fruit in a 8b FL? I have had one in a pot for over a year and wonder if I should take it with me when I move, or get rid of it?
laura_in_fl
2 years ago
I’d say it’s worth a shot. Where I live is 9a but was classed as 8b until the last USDA map revision.

Loquats thrive here - they make big bushes or trees (depending on pruning) and they fruit well in all but a few of the very coldest years.