Food I'm Eating: First fresh figs of the season

It's that time of year. We're just starting to get the first figs of the season. These are a variety called "Brown Turkey." Fresh figs with yogurt and honey from our beehive make the best of all breakfasts – well, maybe except for smoked kippers, buttered toast, and tea....

Plants I'm Growing: Early Figs (June 30, 2013)

In the back yard, we have a fig tree, a variety called "Black Jack," which has dark figs rather like mission figs, but bigger. I chose this one because the tree stays small. It's been in the ground about seven years now, but it remains small enough that I can harvest the figs mostly without the use of a ladder. Normally, a few figs form in the spring. they usually stay small, shrivel and never ripen. The main crop comes late in the summer--usually sometime in August. For some reason, we've had viable early figs this year--not a lot (so far about ten)--but good-sized fruit that has ripened beautifully. I had six for breakfast this morning, doused with yogurt and honey. Fruit has set well this year on all the fruit trees, actually. We have pluots on the "Dapple Dandy" tree for the first time in many years. The "Flavor Queen" tree is groaning under the weight of all the fruit on it. About 200 Santa Rosa plums sit in the kitchen. I'm making jam from the bruised ones. We have apples and pears on the way, too. Perhaps it was because we had little rain while the trees were flowering this year? The grape vines have set a lot of fruit as well.

Plants I'm Growing--Figs (2010)

A couple of days ago, I posted a photo of the apple tree in the garden. It's blooming in the middle of October, which is somewhat bizarre. The strange weather this year--the wet spring and long, cold, summer followed by a couple of heat spells (we've just finished another one)--all conspired against the fruit trees. We had no pears, very few "Dapple Dandy" pluots, no apples, and very few peaches or nectarines this year. Only the "Flavor King" pluot had an appreciable crop. I had given up on the fig tree as well until the late warm weather that saved the grapes finally got the fruit to start ripening. We have a dwarf variety called "Black Jack." The figs taste and look much like "Mission" figs, but the tree stays small. With minimal pruning, it's remained low enough that I can reach the fruit without a ladder. Suddenly, we've got many, many figs ripening all at once.

I enjoy them best just sliced in half with Trader Joe's Greek Style Honey Yogurt on top--and then drizzled with honey harvested from the beehive. Standing near the tree, you can smell the fruit. That corner of the garden smells like Sardinia.