The Wonderful Fig

Figs are delicious, they are also high in calcium and fiber, and they are delicious. They can be eaten freshly picked, or dried, or made into a delicious jam. They can only be picked when ripe as they will not ripen after picking, so do not travel well. If really ripe they are one of the most delicious fruits you can get. The flower of the fig is INSDE of the fruit! A tiny wasp enters the fruit through a small hole that opens in the end of the fruit when it is ripe. The wasp fertilises the flowers that are inside the fruit. (Or other insects can do the job - like ants.) Figs are about 60% sugar. It is said that man could live on figs. Did I mention that they are delicious? Or as my friend Edna Vincent Millay once said -

FIRST FIG

My candle burns at both ends.
It will not last the night,
But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends -
It gives a lovely light.

If you can figure out what that means, please let me know!

As you may have guessed I have a fig tree, several actually, but one in particular is about 15 feet high and 20 feet across, last year I picked, and ate, about 400 figs from this tree. They were delicious! I dried several large jars full, also made jam, and we put some into our morning fruit smoothies, delicious. I thoroughly recommend planting a fig tree. It may take several years to start producing large quantities of fruit, but the sooner you plant it the sooner you will have the fruit - which is delicious - as a famous person once said, the best time to plant a tree is last year, the next best time is now!. So go for it, get planting, now. (They are delicious!)