Interview With A Fig Grower: Teresa Valenti

Curious how someone grows figs in Virginia? Meet Teresa, gardener and crocheter extroidanaire!

Alright my figgy readers, today we have an interview with fig grower Teresa Valenti. She and I joined the fig community in the same year, so I’ve always considered us as being in the same “graduating class” for figs and am very happy to have a chance to interview her. Before you get to reading, Teresa has selected some musical notes for her interview to set the tone. So please click play and read on to meet Teresa.

My name is Teresa. I currently live here in Stanton, Virginia. It’s located in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley, Northwest Virginia. I’m 71 years young and married for almost 51 years. My husband and I have three children and two grandchildren. Other than growing figs, my other hobby is crocheting.

Staunton is in grow zone 7A. It used to be 6B until the new zoning changed it. Funny, it doesn’t feel warmer just because it changed on the map haha.

I started growing figs when a friend gave me some figs from her tree. After my first taste, I just had to have one of those trees. Before that, I had only eaten dry figs from the store. There’s a big difference between dried and fresh. The only dried fig you could get at the store were those whiteish tough as shoe leather figs. But the ones she gave me were a pretty green fig with a beautiful red berry color inside and sweet and juicy. I tell you, what a mind blowing experience it was for me. I just couldn’t go back to shoe leather figs again.

Being a married woman I was always taking care of my husband, then the children came along and had to care for their needs. They had their hobbies and things they enjoyed. I started to want something that was for me. So when I got into trying to grow fig trees I just loved it. I’ve only been at it for 6 years but I’m still learning and enjoying it. I will be growing and enjoying it the rest of my life God willing.

Tell us about your trees and any tips?

The most trees I’ve had were around somewhere between 32 to 35 total of both in-ground and in containers. Of all those, I now only have 11 total. We sold our house last year so we took only three of the in-ground and eight of our containers because we couldn’t fit the rest in the truck. It sure was hard to choose only three of the in-grounds. I always would read the scenario question on the forum: If you could only pick one, which one would you choose? I never thought it would be something I would ever have to do except in my case it was three. The three in-grounds that I chose were Sal’s G, OC Celeste, and LSU Tiger.

Now that I have only 11 trees, we plan on putting them in-ground. I’ve noticed the difference between them and containers. The in-ground trees were always healthier and containers were always a constant battle to keep healthy. My husband is 78 years old and getting tired of shuffling pots in and out of the shed for winter.

Past and present trees.

I don’t have any favorite products to use, but my friend who gave me figs from her tree grew up on a farm in Italy. She would always say, “Concrete. Put concrete around the tree, figs love it.” She always had chunks of concrete around the base of her trees. After I got into the hobby, I found out that fig trees LOVE LIME [which happens to be in concrete.]

Well, the best tip I had was the concrete so I’ll pass that along. Plant them along or near concrete such as walkways, patios, and near a foundation.

What brings you the most joy and the most disappointment in growing figs?

Success. Seeing my hard work have success. There is no better feeling than sitting in my yard, having my favorite beverage, and seeing the beauty of my trees around me.

My biggest pains and disappointments were rooting cuttings. In the beginning, I killed them all. Even now, it’s hit-and-miss. Even some I did manage to root would die in the up-potting phase. If given a choice, I always choose already potted trees.

My absolute favorites are the 11 trees I brought here to our new house. There are two more that I want to get that two friends are going to send me— Iranian candy and Green Michurinska

I’m not a fan of small figs or late-ripening figs like I-258, Black Madeira, or Adriatics because the growing season here isn’t long enough without a greenhouse for an early start. Also, I had several Mount Etnas, the purple ones, but over time the flavors were almost similar, so I just kept Sal’s G and Sicilian Dark.

What are you looking forward to this next season?

Getting my fig trees in the ground. I’m also growing two persimmon trees and one jujube tree. They are already in the ground. And someone gifted me a small apple tree, don’t know what variety it is, but it is grafted to an M-111 rootstock. I might graft another variety to it as a pollinator.

Time will tell how long it will last. One thing is for sure the time will come when we will no longer be able to wrap for winter and then may the strong survive!

Where can people find you?

I definitely don’t have any desire to be on a huge social media platform, but I love figs so I’m on two fig forums, Ourfigs and Fig Fanatic. I go by the name Figgerlickinggood.

Teresa’s Crochet Gallery:

Click on images for the full picture (Substack zooms in on center.)

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Thank you, Teresa, for your interview. I appreciate the time you spent with us today and I love the tip about concrete! Your crochet art is lovely. 🤗 May you have many tasty figs this season!

Okay, my favorite readers, who is next in our “Interview With A Fig Grower” series? Stay tuned to next month!