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Figs
(Ficus carica)
The fig may be one of the first plants cultivated by humans, and as it predates the domestication of wheat, barley, and legumes it may therefore be the first known instance of agriculture. This is all based upon fossil records dating to about 9400BC coming from the early Neolithic village of Gilgal in the Jordan Valley. Fig growing in Britain goes back a long way too, and some suggest the fruit may have been introduced here by the Romans, as fig seeds have been found associated with Roman settlements. The first true record of a fig tree planted here is attributed to Cardinal Pole (later Archbishop of Canterbury) who planted a tree in the garden of the Palace at Lambeth around 1552. Figs were quite commonly grown in Britain throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries,and they were usually planted on the south walls of stately houses whose aristocratic owners appeared to be the only ones to appreciate them, the lower classes having little regard for figs and often deriding them, as in the common saying ‘not worth a fig’.
However, in the 1950s, a fruit farmer called Justin Brooke who owned a 300 acre fruit farm near Newmarket, Suffolk,took up the challenge by importing several different varieties from France as a way of extending the range of fruits he grew. He was blessed with an experimental frame of mind and was particularly sceptical of the conventional view that figs were hardly worth growing outdoors in the central areas of Britain. But,as a result of his experiences, he wrote a book entitled ‘Figs – Out of Doors’, and this book is of interest to anyone growing figs in Britain and is well worth reading for its practical suggestions. The main point made by him is that success in growing figs in Britain is to ensure that vigorous, lush growth is restricted and short stubby fruitful growth is encouraged by various cultural techniques. He found that planting in specially constructed concrete ‘boxes’ that are sunk into the ground dwarfs the tree and also that a very heavy clay soil can retard growth to an acceptable level by itself, particularly if feeding is kept to an absolute minimum.
(despatched between November 2017 and March 2018 )
Back to Main Open Ground Fruit index. (20 varieties)
Fig - Col de Dame Blanche
Ficus carica 'Col de Dame Blanche'
availability prices and sizes- Type: Dessert
Fig - Ronde de Bordeaux
Ficus carica 'Ronde de Bordeaux'
availability prices and sizes- Type: Dessert
Fig - Violette Dauphine
Ficus carica 'Violette Dauphine'
availability prices and sizes- Type: Dessert
Fig - Violette Dauphine
Ficus carica 'Violette Dauphine'
availability prices and sizesnew
- Type: Dessert
Back to Main Open Ground Fruit index. (20 varieties)
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