Figs

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4 Steps To Make Pecan Fig Bread

4 Steps To Make Pecan Fig Bread

4 Steps To Make Pecan Fig Bread. Last Fall I was picking figs on the tree and began to think about the fruit pantry in my grandma’s country house in Loxely, Ala. It was filled with jars of canned fruits and vegetables that grew in her gardens. She also had a small fruit dehydrator and made the most delicious foods from all those delicious treats in her yard. While thinking about this, I decided to do something useful with my own homegrown figs rather than just eating them fresh off the tree. I looked around and found a recipe on making fruit bread and decided to modify it a little to spice up the flavor. Read more

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International Love of Figs

international love of figs image capture of a world map

 

Since my childhood, I would love planting things in the garden. When I was a child I went away on family trips to visit my grandparents. They carried with them an international love of growing shared from generations that came from across the Atlantic ocean. Read more

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Spring cleaning at Figgi Riggi

Spring Cleanup: A good time to tidy things up a bit

This late Spring, you may have noticed a bit of silence from my posts lately. That’s because I’ve been working away in the invisible background cleaning up affiliate site links and improving some of the old pages with more interesting content. I was making improvements to the site title image at the top of the page. After I created it, I noticed that the 4 dots look like little figs. Read more

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Pests are Eating My Figs

Figs are a popular sweet treat in nature for both humans and the sneakiest pestspests

 

Figs are attacked by all sorts of pests and they do it ferociously as if the end of the world has come. They can drain the juices from the figs within a day or two. Although there is one thing that I noticed when hurricanes come to the region. The day afterward, the flies come. I don’t understand it, but the fruit begins to rot very quickly and this attracts the flies. Here are examples of the most common creatures that I’ve personally come across through observation. Read more

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21 Easy Steps to Making Fig Preserves

Preserves Jars cooling after hearing the popping sound in the lids

Family History Of Making Fig Preserves

When I was a little kid visiting my grandparents in the South Alabama town called Loxely, I recall moments in the laundry room looking up at all the canned foods my grandmother prepared. They lined the shelves with a range of colors from each of the different fruits and vegetables that my grandfather picked from the gardens. One of my favorite activities was to go out in the yard and pick fresh figs. I enjoyed that natural sweet snack and along with that there was a time for breakfast where I would spread my favorite preserves onto my toast. I would like to share with you this memory with a step-by-step instruction on how to make Fig Preserves presented by my mom who has the recipe memorized. It’s not very difficult and I’m sure you will enjoy this delicious snack. You will need to allow yourself up to 2 hours to make it and a chair or a little helper if you can’t stand for long periods at the stove for stirring. Read more

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Training Your Fig Tree

How To Train Your Dragon

movie poster
movie poster

Training your tree, not a dragon

Training your fig tree, not training your dragons. Here are some basic examples on fig tree shapes. There are two common forms that a fig tree can be trained into: Single trunk [D], open vase type and the multi-trunk system [C]. Northeastern fig trees can be trained to grow from a single trunk when planted in a 200-hour chilling zone. You can control the trees through pruning. A winter frost that kills most of the branches, shows when a single trunk system should be used. To maintain the single trunk, be sure to cut away new growth that may appear at the base of the tree. Use a wooden stake, if necessary, to keep the trunk growing straight. Read more

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Rust spots or dead brown areas on leaves

Rust spots on your leaves

Rust beginning to form on leaf
Rust beginning to form on leaf

There are fungi that can attack your fig tree leaves. If you find large brown areas, or with a mold growing – immediately cut off the affected leaves and discard them so that the fungus will not spread throughout. Take note that there is a very dangerous common leaf mold pathogen called Rust. It mainly affects potted plants and can spread to your house plants. It will begin with small brown spots and gradually spread through the leaf. When you discover this type of infection, cut the leaf off and burn it. Read more

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Solutions to protecting leaves

solutions

Solutions are available for injured fig leaves. Fig trees in this area of the Northeast don’t have many pests. Once in a while, you’ll come across leaves being eaten or discolored. Sometimes you’ll find that nothing is eating the leaves or branches most probably because the sap (latex) is sticky and can be irritating (even to human skin). Other times, the problem might not be a pest, but a rust fungi infection. Read more

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Official Fig Facts

OFFICIAL FIG FACTS

Here is an official list of fig facts from Purdue University. These facts show everything from home remedies to nutritional information.

http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/fig.html

Here is a more human version of the nutritional information:

http://caloriecount.about.com/calories-figs-dried-uncooked-i9094?size=2

Here’s another good resource on Fig Facts. It’s an Australian site with info about how figs are grown in California. I found it to be particularly informative.

http://www.foodforest.com.au/fact-sheets/fruit-and-nut-trees/figs/

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Lost Figs: Where are they?

Lost and Found

Chances are that your figs are not in the lost and found at the police station. Knowing when the figs will grow and whether or not they’re being stolen or eaten by natures bugs and other critters is essential to being a backyard gardener.

  • Lost? Maybe the neighborhood kids or your landscapers are sneaking through your yard and eating your figs.
  • There’s no guarantee that you’ll see figs growing on your transplanted tree for the first 2-3 years.
    Lost figs transplanted tree
    Soil Filled Into Hole

    Read more