I figure fruit and nut trees come under Gardening. I'm in middle Missouri, Zone 5 shading to Zone 6. I'm thinking of adding Brown Turkey figs to my mottley fruit and nut tree collection. They need to be covered when the temps fall below 10F, so I'd have to do that some days in most winters. They aren't large trees, so I can do that, but I don't have a good idea about how many figs one tree produces. It's not like I'm planning to live on figs, but I thought maybe someone here had a fig tree and would know?
So far I have pecans, Carpathian walnuts, one native black walnut, a hardy almond, lots of native hazelnut, about a dozen different apple and crab apple varieties, peaches, plums, one tart cherry, and both wild and thornless blackberries. I plan to add another of the almonds, some sweet cherries, heartnuts, probably some improved hazelnuts, possibly some Thomas black walnuts which are supposed to make easier cracking nuts, blueberries, and raspberries. The fig is mainly my son's idea because he likes the dried ones, and as you can tell, I'm up for just about any edible landscape stuff. I might add paw paws to the mix, too. I probably have 30 seed and plant catalogs, and no doubt will make several of those companies happy in the next month or so. Since I have to fence out the deer, Home Depot will get some business from me, too. Any good suggestions for other fruits and nuts would be appreciated, too.
I should have said, "edible by me". What are Saskatoons? I have strawberries already, just forgot to list them. There are several other berries coming available through the various mail order nurseries. There's also the hardy kiwis. I have space for lots of other things, and my main problem has to do with planning where to put things that are going to be there forever (at least with respect to me).
Chuck, I don't really have an answer for your question, but I figure I'd need about 3 fig bushes just for my personal use. Dried figs and Fig Newtons are OK, but I sure do love fresh figs and fig preserves.
I don't know about your area, but it seems that fig varieties are limited in my area. Seeing your posted interest I thought I would post a link to UC Davis figs. Many varieties are maintained there as a part of the national germplasm repository and are available to the public as cuttings. There are links for the varieties available for ordering and they ship via fedex in mid-February. No cost to you.
I requested and received five varieties a couple of weeks ago. UC Davis Figs
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