Showing posts with label ficus carica. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ficus carica. Show all posts

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Figs


Two different types of figs. The purple one is a Mission improved, the stripped ones are Panache. Both are delicious. All the fig trees have been producing this year, the younger ones have made fewer figs than the older trees, but that is to be expected.

I have found that my Polish chickens like figs, so if a scrub jay has hacked on apart and left it on the tree, I'll throw it to the chickens. Also the fallen figs were devoured by the chickens when they were out under the tree.

My oldest fig tree is Conadria and it makes small, greenish yellow-skinned figs with sweet, mellow interiors. They are apparently good drying figs (they'll even dry on the tree, I've read), and I have a tray of them in my solar powered food dehydrator. Hopefully good results will ensue. The dried tomatoes and dried peaches worked beautifully.

I love to eat the figs fresh, right off the tree. During fig season I usually have several figs off the tree throughout the day. They are one of my favorite edibles. They are drought tolerant once established, which is a bonus in our Mediterranean climate. The wild birds also love figs, and this year I tied flashy bird-scare tape to the largest tree, and it has worked better than no tape last year. More figs for me.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Fig - Conadria


Ficus carica - edible fig - Conadria puts out an early (breba) crop and a late crop. The breba crop has been ripening over the last week or so, a few at a time. Sweet fresh figs, right from the tree, are one of my favorite things to eat.
Figs are drought tolerant after being established. Conadria starts out with green figs, then they start to droop a little, then more, and finally turn yellow. When the fig pulls easily from the tree they are ripe and sweet. Conadria can be dried too, but I haven't tried that yet.

Other fig varieties in the garden include: Verdal Longue, Celestial, Brown Turkey Improved, and Panache Tiger. They are all young trees and it looks like the Brown Turkey Improved will fruit in the summer, and possibly the Panache Tiger.