I must confess straight away that I didn't actually grow these giant figs. I have been keeping an eye on these fig trees for a number of years now, they are in a public place near where I live and they are tended every now and then by the council. What I can never figure out, is that nobody apart from me ever picks them. I must assume that the majority of the British (Hillingdon) public do not recognize them for what they are.I have been keeping an eye on these and noticed recently they were turning brown (ripe). These are most probably the variety 'Brown Turkey' which grows well in our climate. Yesterday I picked about two dozen of these ripe figs, with the promise of dozens more yet to ripen. I've never seen anything like it ! For certain, any British supermarket would reject them.
Which brings me onto a pet subject. UK supermarkets reject any produce from growers which is oversize, undersize, wrong shape, too straight, too curly, wrong colour, blemished..you know the stuff. Esther Rantzen used to show them on 'That's Life'. I was remembering the fun I had as a child picking up the naughty-shaped vegetables.. mis-shapen tomatoes, forked carrots, nobbly potatoes - taking them home and displaying them in the kitchen, perhaps drawing a face on them.
Please can any blog readers photograph their nobbly or naughty veg, and post them on your blog. Let's all have a laugh and remember our childhood!