David and Priscilla Burke together are known as the Fig Hunter. They’ve been featured on the Smithsonian for their work finding wild seedling fig trees all over California. It’s very important work and in this episode we talk a lot about seedling fig trees, the flavor of caprified figs and the incredible world of pollinating figs.
From their website: https://https://www.thefighunter.shop/ – “We have found wild fig trees from Disneyland to Oregon, though most our finds are in the San Francisco Bay Area to Redding. We follow strict, long established, naming guidelines of the fig community. We freely name seedling figs, while documenting the trees so as to be able to verify that they are a true seedling. If we can’t tell with certainty that it is a seedling ( 100 year old trees ), we might name the road and unknown if only for our own records . You may ask how can we tell it wasn’t planted? We use the method of possibilities if a tree is in a spot such as growing out of a rock the chances are it’s not planted. We do our diligence and research; the hours spent pouring over photos is exhausting. Most important we are doing this because it’s fun to share with others and the adventure.”
Right now the Burke family is having a Christmas special on their website. Use the code FIGBOSS10 at checkout to receive a 10% discount on their products.
They also do a free monthly giveaway on their website to inspire new fig growers and are hosting a SoCal fig cutting exchange. Check them out: https://https://www.thefighunter.shop/
You can also find them on YT, IG & FB @TheFigHunter
Check out the very informative Fig Boss website & blog: https://www.figboss.com/
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Other important links:
The Fruit Talk! Podcast: https://anchor.fm/rossraddi
The Ever-expanding Fruit Growing Spreadsheet: https://goo.gl/X6ye9e
2018 Fig Variety Album: https://photos.app.goo.gl/a9MLNYaf3pqxNU7p9
2019 Fig Variety Album: https://photos.app.goo.gl/bSFfDZnVuwSeZ9Bi8
Zone 7A – Greater Philadelphia
18 Comments
For anyone interested in any of the Fig Hunter products, check out their website: https://thefighunter.com/ – Use code FIGBOSS10 for 10% off.
Inspiring interview! Birds have planted several figs in our California yard. Only time will tell what they produce but each time I discover a new one I feel like I've found a treasure
Thanks, great video. You mentioned the possibility of there being a 25% chance of fig seedlings being a male. I believe it is closer to 33% to 50% male. I tested 101 seedlings with the FarmerFreeman EZXY test and got 37 males and 64 females.
Holy head spin! Just when I thought I was starting to get the whole fig thing I watched this video and I learned I don’t know Jack crap! Next adventure hand pollination
Nice info, I bought 140 seeds from tinkerbug Figs 3 male parent and 9 female. I will field trail them next year, will make interesting flow chart on results. Hoping to get at least 1 or 2 males for more breeding and a couple tasty common I can name myself. I am on the 7a 7b boarder in Oklahoma so most years we have nice hot dry summers.
You got me thinking of getting a persistent caprifig to pollinate. Nice discussion.
What are some of the best persistant caprifigs to grow if you want to do your own hand pollinating?
This is awesome and you definitely have turned the corner with your winter videos. I can now put a face to the “fig hunter”, I’ve been wondering who this person or people were. Thank you.
Just the beginning of this video, and I have already learned that fig trees can grow to 70x 40!!! The more I listen and read about figs, the more I learn. Love it👍
Can one tell whether a fig tree is a Caprifig just by looking at it? When you find a new fig how many years does it take of growing a cutting to determine what type of fig it is?
I grew up thinking figs were green and ONLY came in a can with sweet syrup😆
If Caprifigs house the fig wasp and only thrive in the weather of CA., how can fig growers thrive in much colder zones?
Very informative! Love the Burkes (& David could not do it w/o Pricilla)! That Lance guy is my favorite tho😊
In my knowledge caprifigs can only produce seeds that is a male fig. A female fig tree has the gene for suppressing stamen formation, resulting a female syconium to form. Seedlings from a caprifig X caprifig cross simply cannot have the gene because both of the parents dont have the gene.
My plead to fig hunters : If you kindly self pollinate the best, persistent caprifigs(like the one being referred in the video), by using hand pollination, it will produce a seed that is almost genetically identical to the original caprifigs, you would sell the seeds internationally. In many contries importing fig cuttings is banned; while importing fig seeds are allowed. We would appreciate if we could purchase caprifigs in seed form, since we lack any varieties of caprifigs in my country.
Fantastic interview of The Fig Hunter! The Burke’s have one of the worlds largest collection of figs— and some of the future best fig flavors will be coming to market soon because of them! Keep up the excellent work!!
Charles 🤩🙌
Good Stuff – Enjoyed this one guys – Thanks!
Love to see the family aspect – raising more than figs – these are great parents in my book.
Ross have you stopped trying to colonize the wasp in your greenhouse