Ripe Olympian Figs

Yes, Olympian Fig trees can be container-grown. Started from a cutting in the summer of 2023, my 3-year old tree is in a 17-inch pot. I bottom dressed it this Spring, as it had settled down about an inch since it was potted in April 2025. It was a good opportunity to inspect the roots. Thankfully, there were no signs of RKN.

 

It's a "self-watering" pot, which means it has a reservoir. Figs are thirsty trees, and it turns out that 12 inches of rain in the month of July is just the right amount. That is record rain, but generally speaking Coastal Virginia is a very wet place, so I lined the sides of the pot with Better Than Rocks, to discourage root rot and encourage air pruning of the root ball. The latter 🤞 should help keep the size of the tree in check. The red mesh on top of the soil is repurposed onion bags, to stop squirrels from planting acorns, another item of abundance here.

 

Especially when it rains that much and strips the soil of nutrients, regular fertilization is important for potted trees. Just don't feed when it's really hot and plants are stressed. 

Olympian can produce a breba crop, and this Spring we had 12 figlets—that fell off when the tree went into leaf-growing mode. 
 

This is our very first fig harvest. The Summer crop began to develop in early June. The ribbed figlets were steadfastly green for more than 2 months. Once they go a little jaundiced, ripening happens quickly: 3-4 days and they're ripe. They're ready to harvest when they slip off the tree, like a ripe melon slips off its vine. 

 

After a very wet (and hot) July, we had a very hot dry spell, followed by a couple of severe thunderstorm just as the figs were ripening. With the irregular watering, one started to crack. An organza bag worked to protect the fruit from sugar ants while it ripened. 

Four figs. That was our entire crop. A nice sized fig (paring knife in photo for scale), they weighed between 1.25 and 1.75 ounces each. Thin skinned, creamy smooth, and delicately sweet… we couldn't be happier with our homegrown figs!

What about you? Have you grown figs? 
 

Deep Top Bar Hive, designed by Marty Hardison

The Deep Hardison Hive

Here is a new picture of the deep Hardison Hive. Marty has enjoyed 100% survival rates in them, and he's fine-tuned their construction. The plans to construct the original Hardison Hive are included in The Appropriate Beehive. On clicking through, you will need to request access to the document.

"There is nothing fancy about adding 4 inches to my standard hive. I just cut 4-inch wide boards of the same wood the hive body was built out of. Then drilled down the center of the boards deep enough to screw them into the existing hive body. But I also screw the end of the boards together. This enables my bees to have a larger enough cluster to survive Denver winters."

As you can see, he also adds protection over that wide seam. Nothing fancy. Once the bees propolize the inside, the seam will be wind- and water-tight. If you have any questions for Marty, just drop a comment. I'll make sure he gets it!

P.S.: Marty always says he's doing a good job as a teacher if his students want to do something contrary to his way. It means they're thinking. So if I were building a deep hive, I think I'd add holes as upper entrances (like Wyatt Mangum does) and some flashing just under that new face plate to create a little awning.