Um, so I was gifted a fig tree...

[magicpigeon]

To be honest I can't even remember the last time I ate a fig, nor what it tastes like

Right now the plant is only as tall as my knee but there are 2 fruits about 2cm in diameter. So, my question is how are you supposed to eat figs?!!!! And, as a sub question, if I leave the tree alone will my chickens come along and ravage it???

How do you tell when green figs ripen? Please pardon my ignorance

I can't cook to save my life and I pretty much survive on watermelon

Thankyou in advance

 

[gryeyes]

Yes, chickens love figs. That's about all I know about 'em, though.

I've never eaten a raw fig, either.

 

[orientphoenix]

peel it and eat it, my parents wash em and eat them with the skin

 

[gritsar]

Figs can be eaten fresh, used in baking or made into fig preserves.

I have a large stand of fig trees just outside the door to one of my coops. Tons of fruit in late summer. If I don't beat the chickens to em, they get every last fig. The younger birds even fly up into the tree to dine.

 

[LarryPQ]

we just pulled them off the tree and ate them. No peeling.

 

[cravenchx]

Try them, you might like them!
Make sure they are soft to the touch first...
good and ripe!

 

[cuntryuppiechick]

The dogs love them too. Peel and freeze. Throw in cereal instead of strawberries. Put into homemade granola, my favorite by far. Dehydrate for an on the go snack. Filling for Rugelach or cookies. Homemade vinegar. Let them be and feed the wild birds. They are about $7 a pound at the grocery store so if you get enough going you can resell them to wineries or jam makers. Depending on the variety they can be ripe when green to dark brown. My tree goes from grasshopper bright green to a light maroon. They go brown and wrinkle when they are rotten. Rain is very significant to what the flavor and production ends up being. Lots of rain will make bigger and more fruit but it will have less flavor. It also makes a difference if you get one or two huge downfalls versus a little rain for weeks and weeks.

 

[leonphelps]

figs sell here for .25 each. cant imagine you would have a problem with a tree that lets you make a couple hundred bucks a year.

 

[NYboy]

They can't take deep cold, my father wraps his fig trees every fall in burlap. A fully ripen fig is like candy.

 

[welasharon]

Don't peel them. You are throwing away good food! Not to mention fiber. Chickens love them too! Pick it and eat the whole thing minus the stem. Yummy!