As many of you know, we have been rapidly scaling up to handle an avalanche of advance orders that were placed last year, and are behind schedule on deliveries of fig trees and cuttings. Here's where things currently stand:
Many of the orders for our $7 tree sale were ready to start shipping out last week (if yours was ready, we emailed you), but had to be temporarily delayed because I was hobbled with a broken toe. Temperatures have now dipped back down into the low 20's again, which prevents shipping, but are due to warm back up late this week, so shipping should commence next Monday. Many of those $7 tree orders will be shipped out over the next few weeks, but the orders with the rarest varieties (Black Madeira, Figo Preto, I-258, etc) won't be ready until the end of spring.
Most of the orders that had estimated delivery dates of February/March won't be ready until late spring, and will be shipped then, but some won't be ready until late summer. The orders that will take the longest are the ones containing Ponte Tresa, Galicia Negra, Genovese Nero (Rafed's), and a few others.
These delays are frustrating, but we will work through them. Thankfully they are short-term issues that won't recur once we get fully up to speed. The hard work of creating a large in-ground orchard, growing thousands of mother trees, building a bunch of new greenhouses, and installing a lot of electrical and water infrastructure has now been done; next year should go much smoother.
As for the fig trees themselves, they are doing well. Below are some pics from one of our heated tunnels: