Fig fanatic brings exotic fruit flavors to customers. ‘Part of Fresno’s history’
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Brian Melton cultivates over 300 fig varieties in Fresno through grafting.
- Local customers buy Melton's figs directly via social media and porch pickup.
- Fresno remains key to U.S. fig production, supplying nearly all fresh and dried figs.
Brian Melton of Fresno is an admitted fig fanatic. He eats them everyday and can easily name more than 100 different varieties that he’s devoured.
Melton’s fascination with figs began as a hobby about 15 years ago while working at a wholesale nursery. He became curious about how the plants grew, so he started experimenting with several cuttings of fig trees. His obsession grew after he collected free fig tree cuttings from research colleges. He also discovered other hobbyists across the country who loved figs as much as he did.
The more varieties he scored, the bigger his collection became.
“And before you know it, I had about 100 fig varieties growing in pots around the house,” Melton said. “I had pots literally stacked upon each other of all the different varieties, just for fun, you know. But it was also like out of control, so I started just giving them away.”
Melton kept the best-tasting and most productive varieties, planting about 200 trees on a small patch of land near Olive and Freeway 99. Using his grafting skills, Melton is able to produce more than 300 varieties of figs.
Inside Melton’s orchard are exotic varieties including Galicia Negra, a large-sized fig with a thick, chewy pulp and rich berry flavor; the Black Madeira, regarded by some as one of the best tasting; and Bordissot Negra Rimada, a fig known for its intense berry flavor.
Loyal customer base for fig grower
Even at his suburban home on East Garland Avenue in northeast Fresno, he grafted a fig tree that produces more than 20 varieties. He’s also planted his prized variety, the Unknown Pastilliere, a dark-skinned piece of fruit bursting with berry flavor.
At his home recently, Melton took a ripe piece of fruit from his tree, gently tearing the fig apart, exposing the reddish fleshy pulp. He popped it in his mouth and smiled.
“That’s heaven in a fig right there,” Melton said.
Hal Cooksey couldn’t agree more. Cooksey is one of Melton’s loyal customers who stopped by to pick up his weekly supply of figs.
“Twenty years ago I was one of those people who couldn’t stand figs,” Cooksey said. “And now they blow my mind.”
His preference is the Galicia Negra.
“It has this sticky, berry flavor that is just delicious,” he said.
Melton, whose company is called ProFig, uses Facebook and Instagram to let customers know what he has available and they drop by his home and pick up their order from a refrigerated case on his porch. His fig season runs from July 4 to November.
Fellow fig fanatic, Danielle Fischer, owner of the Flower Market and Magnolias Yarden, introduced Melton to her customers during the recent Fig Fest at her flower market in Clovis.
Melton was the star of the show, talking about everything figs, from how to graft to growing tips.
The public responded so well, she is putting on another event focused on pairing figs and food. The “Fig Foodie Fest” is Aug. 28 from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Nourish, 520 Pollasky Ave., Old Town Clovis.
Fischer, a native of Wisconsin, is surprised to hear locals say they don’t really know if they like figs.
“To me, figs are a delicacy and the essence of seasonality,” she said. “And even though figs are a part of Fresno’s history, figs are still somewhat mysterious.”
Figs rooted in Fresno history
For decades, figs have been intertwined in Fresno’s history all the way back to the early 1900s when real estate developer J.C. Forkner created Fig Garden, a housing development with about 6,000 acres of fig trees and 60,000 ornamental trees in north Fresno.
Forkner wasn’t the only one who saw the potential in figs. Farmers realized Fresno had the right soil and temperatures to grow figs and soon the region became the center of the nation’s dried fig industry. Although the industry has had it’s ups and downs, it still supplies 98% of fresh figs and 100% of dried figs commercially produced in the U.S.
Karla Stockli, chief executive officer of California Figs, an industry group, said that while she has not worked with Melton, she welcomes anyone in the industry who can increase interest and consumption in figs, both fresh and dried.
“Demand continues to grow for fresh and dried figs and we see that as a positive sign, even during the pandemic people were still buying them,” Stockli said
Although Melton is familiar with the industry groups and a few of the larger farmers, he likes what he is doing now, selling figs, and teaching people how to propagate trees.
“I’m gonna be 50 years old in a couple of weeks, and I’m not to that point where I want to start this huge, like, massive deal,” he said. “I’m kind of like content. I just want to set it up for my kids, you know, and then spread the word for other young people to get out there and learn how to graft and learn how to grow different varieties of fruits in general.”
This story was originally published August 22, 2025 at 5:30 AM.
