Who we are

Growing up I spent a lot time with my Grandfather, who I’d say was the most interesting man in the world. Out of all the amazing things he did in his lifetime his love for growing things translated over to me. Mulberries, Persimmons, Kiwis, Apples, Pears, Figs, Berries, Grapes, you name it he had it.

Nothing was comparable to the collection of figs he had. I was able to watch his fig collection grow over many years filled with trees mainly of Italian decent. It started with just a few fig trees in pots, to then multiple huge raised garden beds scattered with trees, and it didn’t stop there. He cut down trees in his yard brining in more sunlight, he built an irrigation system to automatically water his figs. He turned our (the grandkids’) sandbox into a fig propagation area. Slowly but surely everything was turning into figs.

Then the greenhouse contruction started. It was going to be a state of the art backyard greenhouse with heated floors, automatic watering, and climate control that would eliminate the need to bring the trees in and out every winter. It was everything you could possibly want….. Nearing the end of contruction a neighbor complained to town, becuase it was an eye sore from his window. Such a beautiful dream was put on pause because it wasn’t pretty to look at for somebody. It ruled out he was able to keep the foundation but not be allowed to build up past a certain height. My Grandfather tried offering to build a fence to block the view along with many other solutions, but “the guy” was not budging.

From there, it ruled out that my Grandfather could only build up to 8ft tall, so he chopped it to that height, threw netting over the top and called it a day. To this day all the unused pieces to the greenhouse are still sitting on a trailer in the backyard. As much as it is still an amazing setup for figs, I know it is not what my Grandfather dreamed of.

That did not stop him though, he continued to collect rare varieties of figs and grew them to their full potential right here in his backyard. Not only are these figs awesome to eat and share, they also brought us together as a family. Every Thanksgiving after lunch all the cousins and uncles team up loading the trees into the truck then into to barn where they stay for the winter. Every Easter was the same deal, we’d all team up bringing the trees out of the barn and putting them into their respective spots in the greenhouse.

His love for figs translated into my love for growing which encouraged me to study Plant Science in college.

To this day with the help of my Grandmother and all the cousins, the figs are doing well, the greenhouse is kept clean and everyone still gets their share of figs.

After much inquiration of cuttings and information of the past years I’ve built this website to honor my Grandfather and share these varieties with the fig community.