Figs

One of the few good things about this hot humid weather is fig season! For those who have fig trees in full sun you should now be seeing plenty of fruit while others in partial shade might be a little later to ripen.  When they begin to ripen, there will be more figs than you know what to do with. Pick every other day to get ahead of squirrels and birds.  

Of course there’s fig preserves. We like to make ours with a touch of lemon and ginger. See the recipe links below.

One of our favorite uses for figs is traditional St. Augustine Minorcan Datil pepper sauce. A type of hyped-up ketchup, it actually includes figs as part of its mild sweetness — and of course Datil peppers for zing.  It is a great example of using what’s in season.  Preserves and sauces are a way to prolong the enjoyment of any of your crops, particularly fruits, as our ancestors did.

Fig Preserves

Datil Pepper Sauce

Ingredients for Datil Pepper Sauce
(a double batch)

But for instant satisfaction how about some fig and prosciutto flatbread. This uses any kind of flatbread or pizza crust plus fig preserves, prosciutto, fresh figs and the cheese of your choice — we recommend Gorgonzola or Havarti. Toasted and topped with some arugula or spinach, it makes a wonderful lunch or light dinner. 

Growing figs in our area is relatively easy. Plant in moist well-drained soil. Keep them mulched.  Fertilizer is usually not required, but an application of compost once in a while won’t hurt.  The variety you usually see in our area is Brown Turkey which produces sweet brownish purple fruit, but there are many other varieties to try. We have a Hollier fig, a variety developed at LSU, at the VegHeadz garden which produces sweet green figs which are a little larger than the Brown Turkeys.

Everything you need to know about growing figs:  https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdf/MG/MG21400.pdf

Slow Cooker Fig Preserves:  https://oazarecipes.blogspot.com/2020/07/slow-cooker-fig-preserves.html

St. Augustine Minorcan Datil Pepper Sauce:  https://oazarecipes.blogspot.com/2020/07/datil-pepper-hot-sauce.html

Fig and Prosciutto Flatbreads: https://oazarecipes.blogspot.com/2020/07/flatbread-with-figs-and-prosciutto.html