Another bumper crop is coming in. I'm not even trying to keep up with
the harvest. It's a veritable ecosystem in the fig trees right now.
Beetles, birds, bees, butterflies, and who knows what living and
feasting in there. I've given up the figs above the ground level as
of yesterday. I'll let the rest of the hungry organisms in the
neighborhood have them. The ladder will molder unused for the season.
It's a tall stand of trees.

I've dried a couple of quarts of figs so far. I made some savory fig
leather with pureed figs, lemon juice, serrano chiles, rosemary, and
black pepper. Weird, but tasty. Fig jerky, after a fashion. Dinner
guests next fall will be alarmed, I'm sure.

It takes about 8 hours to dry a batch of figs if you halve them
beforehand. Here's a photo at 4 hours:
http://i15.tinypic.com/4yhix52.jpg

That'll be another pint when it's dry. I'm pacing myself at a pint a
day at present since I'm actually working this summer, too. If I were
trying to maximize production, I coul easily triple that. I gave a
pint of the dried ones to a new friend last week, and she ate the
whole pack in one night. They're like candy, I'm telling you.
--

modom

--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

"modom (palindrome guy)" > wrote in message
...
> Another bumper crop is coming in. I'm not even trying to keep up with
> the harvest. It's a veritable ecosystem in the fig trees right now.
> Beetles, birds, bees, butterflies, and who knows what living and
> feasting in there.

Sounds great and they look good, too. These things are full of sugar but so
good for you.

modom (palindrome guy) wrote:
> Another bumper crop is coming in. I'm not even trying to keep up with
> the harvest. It's a veritable ecosystem in the fig trees right now.
> Beetles, birds, bees, butterflies, and who knows what living and
> feasting in there. I've given up the figs above the ground level as
> of yesterday. I'll let the rest of the hungry organisms in the
> neighborhood have them. The ladder will molder unused for the season.
> It's a tall stand of trees.

> That'll be another pint when it's dry. I'm pacing myself at a pint a
> day at present since I'm actually working this summer, too. If I were
> trying to maximize production, I coul easily triple that. I gave a
> pint of the dried ones to a new friend last week, and she ate the
> whole pack in one night. They're like candy, I'm telling you.
> --
>
> modom
>
Mine are dropping off the trees from heat and lack of water.
They may be like candy, but I would say more like Exlax.

--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

modom (palindrome guy) wrote:

> Another bumper crop is coming in. I'm not even trying to keep up with
> the harvest. It's a veritable ecosystem in the fig trees right now.
> Beetles, birds, bees, butterflies, and who knows what living and
> feasting in there. I've given up the figs above the ground level as
> of yesterday. I'll let the rest of the hungry organisms in the
> neighborhood have them. The ladder will molder unused for the season.
> It's a tall stand of trees.
>
> I've dried a couple of quarts of figs so far. I made some savory fig
> leather with pureed figs, lemon juice, serrano chiles, rosemary, and
> black pepper. Weird, but tasty. Fig jerky, after a fashion. Dinner
> guests next fall will be alarmed, I'm sure.
>
> It takes about 8 hours to dry a batch of figs if you halve them
> beforehand. Here's a photo at 4 hours:
> http://i15.tinypic.com/4yhix52.jpg
>
> That'll be another pint when it's dry. I'm pacing myself at a pint a
> day at present since I'm actually working this summer, too. If I were
> trying to maximize production, I coul easily triple that. I gave a
> pint of the dried ones to a new friend last week, and she ate the
> whole pack in one night. They're like candy, I'm telling you.
> --
>
> modom
>
Lawdy, what a waste. Fig preserves, fig jam, fig wine, all could be
yours with the expenditure of a little time. I made a fig cake Wednesday
with a jar of Raspberry fig jam (fig jam with raspberry jello in it)
that was outstanding. Lots of uses for figs besides leather. Plus we and
our kids, grandkids, and even the greatgrands love fig jam and preserves.

George

In article >,
"modom (palindrome guy)" > wrote:

> Another bumper crop is coming in. I'm not even trying to keep up with
> the harvest. It's a veritable ecosystem in the fig trees right now.
> Beetles, birds, bees, butterflies, and who knows what living and
> feasting in there. I've given up the figs above the ground level as
> of yesterday. I'll let the rest of the hungry organisms in the
> neighborhood have them. The ladder will molder unused for the season.
> It's a tall stand of trees.
>
> I've dried a couple of quarts of figs so far. I made some savory fig
> leather with pureed figs, lemon juice, serrano chiles, rosemary, and
> black pepper. Weird, but tasty. Fig jerky, after a fashion. Dinner
> guests next fall will be alarmed, I'm sure.
>
> It takes about 8 hours to dry a batch of figs if you halve them
> beforehand. Here's a photo at 4 hours:
> http://i15.tinypic.com/4yhix52.jpg
>
> That'll be another pint when it's dry. I'm pacing myself at a pint a
> day at present since I'm actually working this summer, too. If I were
> trying to maximize production, I coul easily triple that. I gave a
> pint of the dried ones to a new friend last week, and she ate the
> whole pack in one night. They're like candy, I'm telling you.
> --
>
> modom

Very nice. :-)

I have only one very small fig tree. It has about 6 small rock hard
fruits on it at the moment. :-)
--
Peace, Om

Remove _ to validate e-mails.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch" -- Jack Nicholson

On Fri, 20 Jul 2007 08:58:37 +0200, Giusi > wrote:

>modom (palindrome guy) wrote:
>> Another bumper crop is coming in. I'm not even trying to keep up with
>> the harvest. It's a veritable ecosystem in the fig trees right now.
>> Beetles, birds, bees, butterflies, and who knows what living and
>> feasting in there. I've given up the figs above the ground level as
>> of yesterday. I'll let the rest of the hungry organisms in the
>> neighborhood have them. The ladder will molder unused for the season.
>> It's a tall stand of trees.
>
>> That'll be another pint when it's dry. I'm pacing myself at a pint a
>> day at present since I'm actually working this summer, too. If I were
>> trying to maximize production, I coul easily triple that. I gave a
>> pint of the dried ones to a new friend last week, and she ate the
>> whole pack in one night. They're like candy, I'm telling you.

>Mine are dropping off the trees from heat and lack of water.
>They may be like candy, but I would say more like Exlax.

I've not eaten enough in one sitting to make much of a
gastro-intestinal difference.

It's a shame that your figs are dropping. That happened here last
year because of the drought. My trees seem to be making up for the
loss this time around. Our wet May and June and first part of July
(2/3 average annual rainfall in six weeks) has led to some of the figs
molding while they're still green. Also this summer they seem to be
splitting more than usual when they're ripe. That's why I made the
fig leather with some of them. They weren't suited for drying.
--

modom

--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

On Fri, 20 Jul 2007 08:00:51 -0500, George Shirley
> wrote:

>modom (palindrome guy) wrote:
>
>> Another bumper crop is coming in. I'm not even trying to keep up with
>> the harvest. It's a veritable ecosystem in the fig trees right now.
>> Beetles, birds, bees, butterflies, and who knows what living and
>> feasting in there. I've given up the figs above the ground level as
>> of yesterday. I'll let the rest of the hungry organisms in the
>> neighborhood have them. The ladder will molder unused for the season.
>> It's a tall stand of trees.
>>
>> I've dried a couple of quarts of figs so far. I made some savory fig
>> leather with pureed figs, lemon juice, serrano chiles, rosemary, and
>> black pepper. Weird, but tasty. Fig jerky, after a fashion. Dinner
>> guests next fall will be alarmed, I'm sure.
>>
>> It takes about 8 hours to dry a batch of figs if you halve them
>> beforehand. Here's a photo at 4 hours:
>> http://i15.tinypic.com/4yhix52.jpg
>>
>> That'll be another pint when it's dry. I'm pacing myself at a pint a
>> day at present since I'm actually working this summer, too. If I were
>> trying to maximize production, I coul easily triple that. I gave a
>> pint of the dried ones to a new friend last week, and she ate the
>> whole pack in one night. They're like candy, I'm telling you.
>> --
>>
>> modom
>>
>Lawdy, what a waste. Fig preserves, fig jam, fig wine, all could be
>yours with the expenditure of a little time. I made a fig cake Wednesday
>with a jar of Raspberry fig jam (fig jam with raspberry jello in it)
>that was outstanding. Lots of uses for figs besides leather. Plus we and
>our kids, grandkids, and even the greatgrands love fig jam and preserves.
>
I used to love my grandmother's fig preserves when I was a kid, but I
find such things too sweet nowadays. I'm more a savory kind of guy.
For example, I'll stuff porkchops with dried figs, lemon confit,
rosemary and feta cheese next fall. But I have made a few fig tarts
in previous summers. I may do so again.
--

modom

--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

modom (palindrome guy) > wrote:
>Another bumper crop is coming in. I'm not even trying to keep up with
>the harvest. It's a veritable ecosystem in the fig trees right now.
>Beetles, birds, bees, butterflies, and who knows what living and
>feasting in there.

Just watch out for snakes with apples.

--Blair

modom (palindrome guy) wrote:
> Another bumper crop is coming in. I'm not even trying to keep up with
> the harvest.

>
> I've dried a couple of quarts of figs so far.



Fresh figs are my absolute favorite fruit. Dried/preserved/jam taste to
me like a waste of a heavenly fruit.

If yours are ripe, that means Costco should have them soon. Yum!

gloria p

On Jul 19, 11:46?pm, "modom (palindrome guy)" > wrote:
> Another bumper crop is coming in. I'm not even trying to keep up with
> the harvest. It's a veritable ecosystem in the fig trees right now.
> Beetles, birds, bees, butterflies, and who knows what living and
> feasting in there. I've given up the figs above the ground level as
> of yesterday. I'll let the rest of the hungry organisms in the
> neighborhood have them. The ladder will molder unused for the season.
> It's a tall stand of trees.
>
> I've dried a couple of quarts of figs so far. I made some savory fig
> leather with pureed figs, lemon juice, serrano chiles, rosemary, and
> black pepper. Weird, but tasty. Fig jerky, after a fashion. Dinner
> guests next fall will be alarmed, I'm sure.
>
> It takes about 8 hours to dry a batch of figs if you halve them
> beforehand. Here's a photo at 4 hours:http://i15.tinypic.com/4yhix52.jpg
>
> That'll be another pint when it's dry. I'm pacing myself at a pint a
> day at present since I'm actually working this summer, too. If I were
> trying to maximize production, I coul easily triple that. I gave a
> pint of the dried ones to a new friend last week, and she ate the
> whole pack in one night. They're like candy, I'm telling you.

Why didn't dry them whole, in the sun?

On Sat, 21 Jul 2007 04:32:48 GMT, Blair P. Houghton > wrote:

>modom (palindrome guy) > wrote:
>>Another bumper crop is coming in. I'm not even trying to keep up with
>>the harvest. It's a veritable ecosystem in the fig trees right now.
>>Beetles, birds, bees, butterflies, and who knows what living and
>>feasting in there.
>
>Just watch out for snakes with apples.
>
> --Blair
Too...funny ;-)

Koko
---
http://www.kokoscorner.typepad.com
updated 7/14

"There is no love more sincere than the love of food"
George Bernard Shaw

On Sat, 21 Jul 2007 12:39:32 -0700, Sheldon > wrote:

>
>Why didn't dry them whole, in the sun?

I've not had any success with drying them whole. Sun drying also,
while surely traditional, isn't what I'm set up for. I don't have any
set up to keep the birds off them, for example. Then there's the
issue of the humidity here and the extremely wet summer, though that
seems to be changing lately.
--

modom

--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

"modom wrote:
> Sheldon wrote:
>
> >Why didn't dry them whole, in the sun?
>
> I've not had any success with drying them whole. Sun drying also,
> while surely traditional, isn't what I'm set up for. I don't have any
> set up to keep the birds off them, for example.

Keeping birds off is easy with netting... and even insects are easy to
deter by sandwichiing the fruit between two nylon window screens
stretched on wooden frames, makes it simple to flip the fruit over
several times each day.

Then there's the
> issue of the humidity here and the extremely wet summer, though that
> seems to be changing lately.

Humidity can present a problem... perhaps setting up a fan would help.

If it were hot enough here I would give it a shot, but it's too cold
here, even during winter for fig trees to survive.

You can make compote with your fresh figs.

Sheldon