What is a fig?
Botanically a fig is not a fruit in the ordinary sense but a hollow, fleshy structure lined with hundreds of tiny flowers. That explains a…
All about figs
What a fig actually is, how it grows and ripens, where it came from, and how to pick, keep and use it. Researched pages carry their sources; pages from our own experience say so.
Varieties
Six varieties compared by skin, flesh, flavour, season and cold tolerance.
Compare all varietiesLearn
A short history of figs
Figs were among the first plants people cultivated, travelled the Mediterranean with every empire, and reached the Americas with Spanish…
How figs develop
From a hard green bud in the leaf axil to a soft, drooping fruit: the stages of a fig and the long pause in the middle that tests every…
Common figs and Smyrna figs
Why the fig in your garden fruits without any pollinator, why some famous varieties cannot, and what caprification means.
Breba crop and main crop
Many fig trees fruit twice: a small early crop on last year's wood, and the main crop on this year's growth. Knowing which is which changes…
Fig nutrition
What is in a fig, fresh and dried, using published nutrient data. No health claims, just the numbers and what they mean in a kitchen.
Pick and keep
When is a fig ripe?
Figs do not ripen after picking, so the whole game is reading the tree. Colour helps, but the neck, the droop and the drop of syrup tell…
How to harvest figs
Pick in the morning, lift rather than pull, keep the stem, mind the latex, and never stack them deep.
How to store fresh figs
Fresh figs are among the most perishable fruits. A single layer, a cold refrigerator and a plan to use them within days.
Fresh and dried figs
Two different ingredients from the same fruit: what changes when a fig dries, and which one each recipe actually wants.