Local Fig Trees For Sale at Sycamore

Last summer I bought a fig tree. Since then, I’ve spotted fig trees all over Brooklyn, including a 6-foot tree in front of the concession stand at the American Legion Baseball Park in Canarsie. The Flatbush Fig Farm and Sycamore are once again joining forces to raise money for the Flatbush Community Garden by putting a fig tree in every Brooklyn backyard.

The 2012 Memorial Day Weekend Fig Fundraiser starts today, Thursday, at Sycamore–$40 per tree. Last year tree sales brought in $210 for the Flatbush Community Garden; Sycamore matched the donation. Two types of fig trees are available: Flatbush Dark and Flatbush White. Which variety is should you get if you want tasty figs? “Both varieties produce absolutely delicious figs beginning mid-August,” says Nelson Ryland, who grows the figs with his sons in their backyard.

Caring for your fig tree:

• Plant tree in the ground or in a pot 14″ or larger.
• If the fig is in a pot, keep it outside.
• These varieties have survived Brooklyn winters without being wrapped or capped.
• For more information on caring for your tree, see this post.

Flatbush Fig Farm Facts:

• The fig tree Nelson inherited when he and his wife bought their home is the inspiration for the Flatbush Fig Farm.

• His tree is an unidentified/unknown variety–Nelson has sent pictures into the fig-o-sphere searching for a species name. Not even the experts could identify it–so Nelson classified it Flatbush Dark. Flatbush White comes from a fig tree from the Flatbush Community Garden.

• Flatbush Fig Farm is a 3-way partnership between Nelson and two of his sons. Presumably, the youngest third son will be able to buy in when he is old enough to carry a watering can.

• Selling fig saplings doesn’t pay the mortgage, but it keeps Fig Farm partners Sam and Jack in a continuous supply of Legos.

• The Fig Farmers recently planted a fig tree in Sycamore’s back patio.

• Flatbush fig tree clippings are now growing in 6 states, including Alaska.

If you have questions, email Nelson at flatbushfigfarm@gmail.com. You can also visit his fig blog at flatbushfigfarm.tumblr.com or follow him on twitter @flatbushnelson.