Figs

[John K Jordan]

The figs have been abundant here this year so I made a fig cobbler while my Lovely Bride supervised nicely from her wheelchair (week two after foot surgery).
We grow several varieties of figs which adds a bit of extra color. Warm cobbler, a bit of vanilla ice cream, a touch of whipped cream...

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JKJ

[Doug Garson]

Do you ship to Canada? Looks delicious.:cool:

[Jeff Bartley]

Yum! Cobbler + ice cream is a match made in heaven!

[Frank Pratt]

I do love me some figs. Never had fig cobbler though. Figs & fig jam are great additions to many savory dishes as well.

[Jamie Buxton]

What varieties do you grow in Tennessee?

[Malcolm Schweizer]

We have a local banana we call figs. They taste like sugared butter.
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[John K Jordan]

...Figs & fig jam are great additions to many savory dishes as well.

I wasn't aware of the range of possibilities until recently. My wife made a prosciutto and fig concoction a few days ago.

JKJ

[Frank Pratt]

I wasn't aware of the range of possibilities until recently. My wife made a prosciutto and fig concoction a few days ago.

JKJ

Ah, stop it! Your killin' me

[Stan Calow]

Figs only grow in hothouses around here, and fresh figs are pretty rare in the markets. But what a treat they are for the many people who have never tasted one.

[John K Jordan]

What varieties do you grow in Tennessee?

There are several that will grow in this zone but may need extra care in a cold spell.

The one on the left in this picture is the unknown variety that was here when we moved in. The fruit is usually quite a bit larger than the sample shown (the only one ripe when I took this picture today), turns from green to yellowish-green when ripe.
The one on the right is a Celeste according to the label.
I have another plant that has the label "Black Fig" but so far it hasn't produced many. Perhaps it's not as suited for this climate.

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The Celeste is the largest plant and producing the most fruit. This one (out of focus!) is not quite ripe. I already picked the ripe ones today!

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JKJ

[Ted Calver]

We love our figs. The Brown Turkey Fig I planted 12 years ago here in tidewater VA has done well. This year has been it's best and we've been swamped with figs. Figs with prosciutto, figs on the grill with blue cheese, or just drizzled with honey and balsamic vinegar, fig preserves, fig jam, fig butter, dried figs....more than enough figs to give away...the neighbors draw the shades when they see me coming. It is possible to have too many figs. The birds have thanked me too.

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[Norris Randall]

Well I do not have a picture, but a fond memory. About 1946-47 my mother was canning some figs in light syrup and she wanted them WHOLE I was called to help.
My job was to carefully press the side of each fig so it would drop into the quart canning jar, other wise the fig was just sitting on top of the jar since the air could not escape.
That was the last time the figs were that large.
I made three pints of fig preserves this year.

[Jack Frederick]

The photo shows our fig. It is about 50’ across in the shown dimension and drips down the slope about 20-30’. I pruned probably 1/4 of it out last winter. I suspect next year to be a bumper crop once it recovers from the shock. My wife makes fig newtons and they are fabulous. We are not big fig eaters and have a hard time giving them away. We have three doe and five fawns who work it and neighbors fig over pretty good. It is a nice tree to sit under on a summer days and it is the grandkids monkey bars.

[John K Jordan]

The photo shows our fig. It is about 50’ across in the shown dimension and drips down the slope about 20-30’. I pruned probably 1/4 of it out last winter. I suspect next year to be a bumper crop once it recovers from the shock. My wife makes fig newtons and they are fabulous. We are not big fig eaters and have a hard time giving them away. We have three doe and five fawns who work it and neighbors fig over pretty good. It is a nice tree to sit under on a summer days and it is the grandkids monkey bars.

Hey, do you have a favorite recipe for fig newtons? Is it a closely guarded family secret?

JKJ

[Stan Calow]

JKJ look for a recipe for Italian fig cookies, and you can get pretty close to the filling part. But they start with dried figs. Wife makes them every year. The dough part of a fig newton might be a bit harder.

[Jack Frederick]

Having nothing to do with the fabrication of the Newton’s, well, other than the eating, Stan is right. The dough is the issue. John, you might want to pick up a copy of “Fig Heaven” byt Marie Simmons.

[Jack Frederick]

Recipe for FN’s. IP am sure, John, that if you closely follow your wife’s directions you will be succeful.

[John K Jordan]

Recipe for FN’s. IP am sure, John, that if you closely follow your wife’s directions you will be succeful.

Thanks. With her recent surgery I'm the chief cook and bottle washer now but her expert consulting is valuable and inexpensive.

Do you dry the figs in a dehydrator?

JKJ

[Stan Calow]

Do you dry the figs in a dehydrator?

JKJ

Well, we've never had the opportunity to get fresh figs but rarely, and if we did, I'd eat them before they could be used. So we use dried figs from the grocery store, as they are always plentiful.

I guess you'd want to dry them very thoroughly, because they need to be chopped very finely, and you don't want mush.

[John K Jordan]

Well, we've never had the opportunity to get fresh figs but rarely, and if we did, I'd eat them before they could be used. So we use dried figs from the grocery store, as they are always plentiful.

I guess you'd want to dry them very thoroughly, because they need to be chopped very finely, and you don't want mush.

Thanks. My Lovely Bride reminded me I bought a food dehydrator book. It has good instructions for figs. I think I have enough for a fig newton run.

JKJ

[Jack Frederick]

We have friends who dehydrate them with good result. My neighbor tells me they freeze them.

[Mike Null]

Figs are just plain delicious! I am surprised that they are not more popular.

My SIL in LA has a couple of trees and tried to ship us a fairly large box of them. They don't travel well:(

[Ted Calver]

Interestingly, I've had more than one neighbor turn down free figs because "there are wasps/eggs/larvae inside" and they don't want to eat bugs. The Brown Turkey fig (https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/ficus-carica-brown-turkey/) is self pollinating and no wasp is necessary, but even if the wasp was present they are minute, a natural and symbiotic part of the fig ecosystem and have been dissolved by an enzyme produced by the fig long before the fruit ripens. I think people equate the crunch of the seeds with the thought of "eating a bug" and miss out on a delicious treat.

[John K Jordan]

Interestingly, I've had more than one neighbor turn down free figs because "there are wasps/eggs/larvae inside" and they don't want to eat bugs. The Brown Turkey fig (https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/ficus-carica-brown-turkey/) is self pollinating and no wasp is necessary, but even if the wasp was present they are minute, a natural and symbiotic part of the fig ecosystem and have been dissolved by an enzyme produced by the fig long before the fruit ripens. I think people equate the crunch of the seeds with the thought of "eating a bug" and miss out on a delicious treat.

What, have they forgotten the chocolate-covered insect craze of decades ago? Chocolate covered ants, grasshopper, honeybees, etc. And what about the recipes I saw this year for cooking cicadas?