There is a monster of a fig tree in our side yard. The base is behind the rock wall on the slope going to the meadow so it gets watered and the roots stay cool. I took 10 feet off this tree the spring of 2014 and it has grown back so it will be pruned again this fall.
We missed the figs ripening event by one week when we moved so the wasps got them all. The first week in August is picking time and this year I picked approx. 50 pounds of fruit. Over the days that I picked, I processed the fruit several different ways – drying, cooking, and slow roasting.
I borrowed a friend’s 5-rack dehydrator and did 5 batches, all cut in half. We ran the dehydrator out in the garage because each batch took 12 hours to dry. We kept the garage door open because that is alot of sweet air blowing around. I then put them in freezer bags to use this winter.
This jam recipe is from allrecipes.com. I processed 2 rounds of 12 jars; the first batch I soaked the figs in baking soda and poured cold water on them. The other batches, I didn’t bother with the baking soda rinse because my trees aren’t sprayed. And I cooked everything down at least 2 hours to get the the consistency I wanted.
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Fig Preserves
Ingredients
- 16 cups fresh figs
- 1 tablespoon baking soda
- 12 cups boiling water
- 8 cups white sugar
- 4 cups water
- 1 lemon, sliced
Directions
- In a large mixing bowl place figs and sprinkle with baking soda. Pour the boiling water over the figs and soak for 1 hour.
- Drain figs and rinse thoroughly with cold water. In a large Dutch oven combine the sugar and the 4 cups of water; bring to a boil and cook for 10 minutes.
- Add the figs and lemon slices to the syrup in the Dutch oven and cook for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
- Spoon figs into hot, sterilized jars and spoon syrup over figs, leaving 1/2 inch of head space. Top jars with lids and screw bands on tightly. Process for 10 minutes in a hot water bath.