Thursday, August 4, 2011

the figs are ready

figs

We started harvesting figs last week.  They are ripening rather quickly.  We are harvesting a plastic shopping bag full about every other day.  There are 3 or 4 fig trees in the property, but only 1 of them is in the garden.  The rest of them are in the little planting area by the driveways.  I didn't plant them, so I don't know what variety they are.  I just call them the "green kind" (as opposed to the kind with purple skin).


fig tree

fig tree

This is the fig tree in the garden.  It's at the center of the garden, so it receives plenty of sunlight.  Other than watering it a few times a year, we really don't pay much attention to it.


figs

I thought this one looked like the Piranha Plant from Super Mario Brothers.  I felt like it was coming to get me, so of course I had to eat it first.


figs

Figs are a relatively new fruit to me.  I didn't grow up eating them.  In fact, I had never seen one (dried or fresh) before I moved to California.  I have to admit they are not on the list of summer fruits/vegetables that I look forward to.  I just kind of forget about them... until I bite into a perfectly ripe one.  Every year they remind me of how delicious they are all over again, sweet like honey with crunchy little seeds.

8 comments:

Thomas said...

How jealous am I????! What will you do with all of them?

Anonymous said...

Is this the one Wendy tried?

-Lina-

Sue from Ky. said...

My Mom's family in South Louisiana, grow them, and I am so envious. I learned to love fig preserves through that branch of the family and I would love to have a tree of my own, but the zone I live in, I don't think it's possible, unless I keep it in a pot. I just may try doing that.I have a basement now, so I have enough room to bring it inside, if necessary.

Sherry said...

Hi Thomas~ I don't know! I actually was thinking about the same thing before I fell asleep last night (yes, during this time of the year I often think about food when I go to sleep).

We have been just eating them straight. I found a few dessert/appetizer recipes online today, and they look promising. I'd like to make fig jams, but I need to find a recipe that can increase the acidity since I don't have a pressure cooker. Maybe I should look up how to dry them,too. Do you have any suggestions?

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Hi Lina!!!!
The one Wendy had was loquat. Loquats are long gone. I gave you a fig to try before (maybe last year?). I was worried that you wouldn't like the texture, but you were fine with it.

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Hi Sue~ Fig preserves sound lovely. Do you have a recipe that I can make with water bath canner?

I should really be more appreciative of the fig trees and pay more attention to them. I didn't know they are fussy to grow in some zones.

Liz - Suburban Tomato said...

Those figs just look so beautiful - very, very jealous!!!!

Malay-Kadazan girl said...

They look so good to eat!

meemsnyc said...

How lucky you are to have all those fig trees on the property! Do you eat the skin on the green ones?

Jody said...

How delicious! What a great harvest this week.