If your only idea of a fig is a highly processed cookie with a sticky fig paste inside and a crumbly cake outside, you are in for a wonderful treat when you first taste a fresh fig. Better yet, taste one straight from the tree. Pure bliss.
Figs have been grown in Texas since the early Spanish settlers arrived and brought the trees with them. That variety was later named Mission fig, and it is still grown throughout the state today.
Celeste, the variety I grow, is reported to be the most cold tolerant fig. Indeed, I have not had any freeze damage in the many years I have had the tree. Brown Turkey and Texas Everbearing are two other fig varieties our local nurseries carry. All varieties grow to about 15-20 feet tall and wide. Once established, they require very little care, aside from watering during dry periods and the occasional application of fertilizer. (Do not fertilize in the fall, however, as you do not want to push out tender new growth before winter.)
Figs require a sunny location for the best fruit production. In dry spells, irrigation is needed to get the fruit to harvest. They are not picky about soil type, though cannot take standing water. My fig tree is in heavy clay soil. I do amend my soil with loads of organic matter, like shredded leaves, compost, earthworm castings and such. This area of my garden, though, seems to resist my attempts to break up the clay. Thankfully, the fig doesn’t seem to mind.
(Ignore the glass glare in the above photo, please. This photo was taken from inside our kitchen, right after we got new windows, removed icky old wallpaper and painted the kitchen a vibrant shade of green. I am excited I had the forethought to plant a beautiful tree outside this formerly awful window years ago, so now I may enjoy this view.)
The Celeste fig is small and ripens to a brown to purple color. The figs ripen over several weeks in mid-July, so not all are ready for harvest at once. (See photo below, with one ripe fig and two figs that needs about a week yet to grow and ripen.)
I use the scientific method to tell when it is time to harvest the figs. If I touch the fig and it falls off, into my hand, it is ready to pick. (Newton’s Law of Gravitation… See? Very scientific.) If it stays tight, I wait another day or two.
Aren’t the leaves gorgeous? The fact that this wonderful shade tree also produces edible fruits is just a bonus.
(Technically, figs are not a fruit, rather they are a flower… Isn’t botany amazing?!)
the melodious garden 