A few months ago my doctor put me on a LOW-FODMAP diet. The bottom line is I can’t eat lots of things I love anymore. Including figs. That might not be a big deal to you, but it is to me. Making fig preserves each autumn is a tradition for my dad and me to do together.
So is EATING fig preserves. (I’ll give you the recipe in a bit.)
When my youngest daughter got excited about having a fig tree at her house, I got excited, too. Like most young couples, she’s limited in her landscaping budget. Fortunately, figs are forgiving….. and giving…. and giving again. Know someone who has a fig tree with low, pliable branches? You’ve got a FIG donor!
Got a low FIG branch? You have a baby tree waiting to sprout! This easy propagation method is called “layering.”
Here’s how you do it.
Bend a branch so it can be put into soil. It will need to be pliable enough to bend without breaking and also have leaves or small branches on it. Remove those to create an “injury” and bury that spot in a bit of soil. I put a heavy rock on the site to weight it down and keep it from moving around.
roots mean it’s ripe for planting
Wait a few months. Lift the branch to make sure it has developed some nice healthy roots.
Now cut it away from the rest of the plant and put your new roots in their new home. Wherever that might be.
FOSTER FAMILY FIGS: 3 c. unpeeled ripe figs, 3 c. sugar (or 2 c. sugar/Splenda blend), juice of 1 lemon, opt. box of pectin – Combine all ingredients and let set for a 1/2 hour. (We play a couple hands of cards at this juncture.) Cook on medium heat in a large saucepan till thick. Put into sterilized jars and seal with heated rubber lids to allow seals to set properly. Spoon onto toast or pour over cream cheese.
HIT: making your own fig preserves out of your own figs!
11 thoughts on “Figs gone wild: YOU CAN GROW THAT!”
Lately I have been buying fig preserves at 4.99 to 6.99 a jar. So I decided to try to learn to make them myself and here you are with this recipe. I will try it and let you know how it works out. Thanks, Cherie
Love figs and have planted them several times but as our OK weather changes and changes and breaks all past records for snow, heat and drought, they have rarely survived. Now we have 3-years in the ground and hope for a decent enough crop to try your recipe.
Sorry about your restrictive diet and hope you can return to at least small amounts of the foods you love the most – especially fruit!
Hope yours turn out this year, Martha. I tried a “store-bought” tree 1st, then reverted to the old ‘Brown Turkey’ that my uncle has at this house. The figs on this are smaller than the newfangled variety I was hoping to grow, but they’re tried-n-true, flourishing in my area for the last century.
The older I get, the smarter my parents become. I’ll deny it if you tell them, though. They don’t have internet, so I can get cocky about it!
Where are you in Oklahoma? I’ll be speaking to the Master Gardeners in OK City on Wednesday…..
I am not a fig lover but you do make it sound so tempting. I will ask my friend Bridget to bend a twig for me so I can give growing figs a try. I do love the leaves of a fig tree!
Hi Laila. Fig trees DO have unusual leaves, don’t they? I have roses to one side and daylilies in front of my fig tree and the contrast of those smaller leaves to the big, tropical-looking ones of the fig tree are nice. Hope you’ll give the preserves a try, too. I also stuff small pieces of celery with cream cheese and top with a dollop of the preserves for a nice party appetizer…… Disguised, you might just go for those figs!
I had no idea that figs would root that way. Thanks for explaining it. I am sorry that you aren’t able to eat as much of your favorite fruit as you would like.
Hi Cristy. I anything that makes life easier and cheaper, don’t you? I’ll miss figs, but there are many other wonderful fruits that are nice to me. Who knows? Maybe someday we’ll be growing “fructan-free figs” and they can go back on my list. For now, I’ll keep picking them and making preserves for my friends and family. c:
nice piece on figs. yum. i have 3 young fig trees. one day i hope to be sharing the figs with the birds. sorry to hear you have had intestinal issues, cherie. diane
Great point, Diane. I enjoy my birds so much. Never even considered I could leave them a few to share a fig RESERVE instead of a fig PRESERVE! Love you, friend! c:
home-made fig preserves recipe
GardenDishes 
Lately I have been buying fig preserves at 4.99 to 6.99 a jar. So I decided to try to learn to make them myself and here you are with this recipe. I will try it and let you know how it works out. Thanks, Cherie
Still working out the kinks of growing potted figs in CT. On summer #3 and have one fig growing on a sparse, potted tree about 4 feet tall.
What do you feed it?
Love figs and have planted them several times but as our OK weather changes and changes and breaks all past records for snow, heat and drought, they have rarely survived. Now we have 3-years in the ground and hope for a decent enough crop to try your recipe.
Sorry about your restrictive diet and hope you can return to at least small amounts of the foods you love the most – especially fruit!
Hope yours turn out this year, Martha. I tried a “store-bought” tree 1st, then reverted to the old ‘Brown Turkey’ that my uncle has at this house. The figs on this are smaller than the newfangled variety I was hoping to grow, but they’re tried-n-true, flourishing in my area for the last century.
The older I get, the smarter my parents become. I’ll deny it if you tell them, though. They don’t have internet, so I can get cocky about it!
Where are you in Oklahoma? I’ll be speaking to the Master Gardeners in OK City on Wednesday…..
I am not a fig lover but you do make it sound so tempting. I will ask my friend Bridget to bend a twig for me so I can give growing figs a try. I do love the leaves of a fig tree!
Hi Laila. Fig trees DO have unusual leaves, don’t they? I have roses to one side and daylilies in front of my fig tree and the contrast of those smaller leaves to the big, tropical-looking ones of the fig tree are nice. Hope you’ll give the preserves a try, too. I also stuff small pieces of celery with cream cheese and top with a dollop of the preserves for a nice party appetizer…… Disguised, you might just go for those figs!
I had no idea that figs would root that way. Thanks for explaining it. I am sorry that you aren’t able to eat as much of your favorite fruit as you would like.
Hi Cristy. I anything that makes life easier and cheaper, don’t you? I’ll miss figs, but there are many other wonderful fruits that are nice to me. Who knows? Maybe someday we’ll be growing “fructan-free figs” and they can go back on my list. For now, I’ll keep picking them and making preserves for my friends and family. c:
nice piece on figs. yum. i have 3 young fig trees. one day i hope to be sharing the figs with the birds. sorry to hear you have had intestinal issues, cherie. diane
Great point, Diane. I enjoy my birds so much. Never even considered I could leave them a few to share a fig RESERVE instead of a fig PRESERVE! Love you, friend! c: