Season Ending

 It seems the 5 to 6 stems per plant was a success!  The figs prospered, had lots of growth, produced fruit, and appeared to be doing well. However, the strange weather pattern messed with somehow. The fruit did not set until mid-August so they never really ripened, and suddenly were all gone. We think squirrels got to them because it does seem like in the course of only a few days the plants went from a promising harvest (although later in the season than expected) to nothing on the plants at all.

Of course, there's no evidence of the deed so we can only guess but it does make me look suspiciously at squirrels I see in the neighborhood and as the leaves fall off trees, I am keenly aware of how many nest there are high up in the trees. 

Drat!

A New Perspective!

OH MY!  A whole new way of looking at this fig gig!  Upon reading up on pruning techniques, it's become clear what has been wrong all along - the pruning technique!  Every year the crazy weather kills off the previous years' growth and we start over. Because there is so much root system, and a healthy one at that, lots of new growth happens and the plants spend the whole summer pushing out lush green stems and leaves but then has nothing left for producing fruit until late in the season.

Well, well, now there's a new plan. By pruning back to 5-6 stems and deleting all the others, the growth is supposed to be better, fruit-production-wise. It's snowing right now, but you can see how 2 of the plants have been done with this new 'recipe of gardening skill'.

The front and middle fig plants have been done.
The plant on the far end has not. You can see what
was allowed to happen every year, but now limits
have been set!