Looking for input on an idea that we've been kicking around in our fig study.
We selected 15 varieties of figs based on cold hardiness and a wide variety of types (flavor-berry, honey, sugar, etc.; origin-Italian, Greek, LSU, etc.; color-yellow, green, brown, purple/black; etc.) and sources (commercially traded vs locally found).
About half of our figs are "Unknowns". But as we continue to trace the history of them, we're realizing that some of our Unknowns probably originated in the commercial trade. For example, the figs found along SW A Street were planted as part of a community garden that is no longer there. During a random encounter with another fig enthusiast on A Street (who was also there looking for ripe figs!), we learned that these fig plants came from the nursery a block away. Which means that they likely aren't heirloom (brought over by immigrants from the family garden in a faraway land), but rather commercially traded fig varieties whose names have been lost (yes, we've asked at the nursery, no good answer yet).
So as we discuss the Unknown figs, we've considered tacking on the suffix -H or -C to indicate whether we believe it's an Heirloom variety or a Commercial variety. The "A Street" figs were likely commercially traded, so our "A Street Strawberry Unk" would be "A Street Strawberry Unk-C". One main reason for this is to let people know that this particular fig is likely not a new variety. Ultimately, we hope that we will be able to positively identify all of the Unknown figs in the study. But for now, we're just looking to be clear and transparent about what we believe them to be.
Is this just muddying the waters and making things complicated? Or is there any value in discerning between "likely commercially traded" and "likely heirloom"?
