Figs

The Celeste, planted in the back yard

This summer, a friend gave Martha a bag of figs.  Not knowing what to do with them, she gave a pile to us.  I am always up for trying somethings new.  But also not knowing what to do with them, I googled for a recipe, and found one for fig bars.  

I made a batch, and they were so good that I used the rest of the figs making a second batch.  In the meantime, the kids realized they also loved eating the figs plain as well.

This whole experience made Dave and I consider growing a fig tree.

Natural Gardener recently sent around an email saying now is the best time in Central Texas to plant trees, so we thought we'd give it a try.

Natural Gardener had three varieties: Celeste, Alma and LSU Purple.  Not being a big fan of LSU, we immediately turned toward the other two :o)  But we couldn't decide.  The bag of figs we had over the summer actually included two different types of figs.  We found that we liked the small green ones better than the big purple ones... I think.  Or maybe I am getting it backwards!

Anyway, the description on Alma sounded like it has tastier fruit, but was susceptible to hard freezes.  Celeste was more cold tolerant.  Dave convinced me to purchase both.

The Alma, planted on the south side

Tomorrow is forecasting 80% chance of rain, so we planted both varieties today.

We put the Celeste in the back yard. and tucked the Alma on the south side of the house where it will get the morning sun, but be protected against cold winds. 

Alma: Medium sized fruit; High quality, rich, sweet flesh with a light tan color and few seeds; "unattractive" green to brown skin; Moderately closed eye is sealed with honey like resin that resists souring and resist the dried fruit beetle; Moderately vigorous, very productive and early; Fruit eaten fresh or processed.  Needs protection from hard freezes.

Celeste:  Small to Medium sized fruit; Mid to late June; Firm juicy rich, sweet, white flesh, sharing to rose in the center; Purple-brown skin; tightly closed eye resists souring and the dried fruit beetle; Large vigorous tree; very productive; Excellent for fresh eating and preserves.  The most cold hard of all Texas varieties.