Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Fig Season

The arrival of late summer means that my figs are starting to ripen.  I don't have the time or energy to keep a vegetable garden, but I do reserve some prime garden space for figs ... I love figs!!




I have a collection of eight different varieties of fig trees planted beside our barn.  The good soil and sunny location make it a perfect spot to grow them.    Most of the plants have lost their tags, so I have no idea which one is which ... but I do know that the last one in the line, whatever it is, is the first one to produce ripe fruit and it is my best producer.



This thing is loaded with figs!



The tree next to this one is also full of  fruit, but none of them are quite ripe yet.





Figs ripen their fruit over the course of a few weeks, so it's important to harvest them every few days.  If you don't ... the varmints will beat you to it.



Figs don't keep ... which is why you just won't find fresh figs at the store. 



You know a fig is ripe if it is soft, begins to hang from its stem (instead of sitting stiffly out from the main stalk), and it begins to look a little wrinkly around the top of the neck where the stem attaches.  I carefully snap the fruit off the tree, pick off the remains of the stem, and pop them into my mouth right out there in the yard.




Up until this year, all of our figs were eaten fresh because we never had enough at any one time to do anything with.  This year, I hope I can use them to actually make something ... fig jam, perhaps.

Here is today's harvest.




I've already eaten half a dozen of these.  I am going to wash and refrigerate the rest of them, adding new ones to the stash for the next few days until I have enough to make jam.

16 comments:

  1. Delicious. I like to eat them immediately after picking, when they are still warm from the sun.

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  2. I like figs too and may plant a tree next year to replace one of our cherries that the gophers just killed:-( Lots of fig growing here in California so we see them at farmers markets. That's where you can sample so many different types.

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  3. What kind of naughty critters are eating the figs? Deer, bear, birds? Just curious. You really DO have a lot of figs there my Dear.

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  4. Oh you are so smart to plant 8 fig trees; they are a wonderful treat. I have one fig tree, I planted it 15 years ago, but it is in shade as a city owned heritage tree grows ever taller. It was in sun when I planted it!

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  5. We had a fig tree in our yard when I was young. I used to play under it and snack on the figs.

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  6. My mom had a fig tree, HUGE, I used to dehydrate them for her... They taste great! Might want to try dehydrating them too! - Susan

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  7. Lucky you, 8 fig trees.

    Any tips on the pruning of?

    Ours is as tall as the sky and the figs hang up there like stars I can't reach.

    xo jane

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  8. We're in the same state now. I wonder at that. Thanks so much for explaining the figs. They're coming into my sisters house in vast quantities--gifts. And still I wish I had a tree of my own.

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  9. I eat them up pretty quickly too. We have Brown turkey, black jack and mission. Last year we finally got the nerve to plant one outside and it made it. We are zone 6 they are 7. It's still has only green figs but I'm excited since last year when we planted it in the spring it didn't even fruit.

    happy eating,
    Carole

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  10. I think I've told you before about how my grandparents had a huge fig tree just outside their kitchen door. My grandfather loved figs, but my grandmother hated that fig tree and would throw hot bacon grease on it every chance she got. It only made the plant grow bigger and stronger...much to my grandfather's delight! Enjoy your bounty!

    Kat

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  11. You will not believe this- I have never seen figs grown! I have only seen them after they were picked. Is that sad, or what? xo Diana

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  12. My SIL usually shares hers. Their tree has to be propped up it’s so old and lush. Like you, I like them warm just off the tree. A local farmer had them on his roadside sign. I stopped and bought three containers. They didn’t last the weekend. Mouthwatering magic.

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  13. Your figs look fabulous! I have one little tree - I've only had it two years. I've never been able to beat the varmits raiding it, so I'm going to have to get better at being the first one to get the figs!

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  14. Connie-- I love figs too-- this makes me want a fig tree so bad!!! I'm going to check to see if I can have one here in KY--
    Vicki

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