The "Figlets" have all grown!

Earlier in spring, I wrote about the tiny figs that were budding out all over our young trees.  Well, here it is summer and those little fruits that I dubbed "figlets" have matured into beautiful rounded figs!  This week the figs are starting to ripen so each morning at daybreak, I make a hasty trip out to pick before the birds eat them all!  The golden brown figs smell so delightful early in the morning.  Early in the day, the Bay breezes are not strong enough to blow all of the mellow-sweet aromas away into oblivion!  The only problem with picking the figs at this early hour is that the dew is still on the leaves.  That moistness plus the natural stickiness of the sap, can cause quite an itchy arm if I am not careful!  So far, I have been fortunate and have not had a problem.  This does make me ponder about Adam and Eve and those fig leaves, though!  I think I might have been a bit more selective in the flora that I chose as garments!  And folks nowadays complain about wool being scratchy...ha!..try fig leaves!

A nice crop of figs on the trees!

This mornings picking of figs!

After gathering my figs this morning, I asked Michael just what he would like made with them.  I know he loves figs so I gave him the first choice.  "Fig jam!"  Was the answer I received so I spent the morning chopping and cooking the fruit! A sprinkling of lemon juice and a bit of sugar rounded out the recipe.  A lot of folks add strawberry gelatin to their figs when making jam but not me!  I think if you are going to make strawberry jam..use strawberries.  If you have figs..make fig jam!  Why in the world would you want to disguise the exquisite taste of the fig?  So, my fig jam is fig jam, not some misguided-artificially-flavored-strawberry-wannabe substance.  Just pure, wholesome figs go on my biscuits!  Now that the process is finished,  there are six jars of fig jam on the shelf and lots more figs to be picked!  Each morning for the next week or so, I will be out at the crack of dawn!  Those birds will have to wake early to beat me!

A dish of delightful figs!

Jam created from figs!

When Mark brought home the fig trees, I was elated to say the least.  I grew up picking and eating the figs that Pop grew on the farm.  I was..and still am..so eager to taste the syrupy goodness inside of that odd little fruit. Personally, I had never thought much about the health benefits of eating figs but I always remember Mom telling me that they were good for me.  So I ate them!  Now I find that figs are high in potassium which is important for heart health!  Figs also contain more calcium and iron than most other fruits! So, it seems as if Mom was right! (As usual!)   Figs....tasty and healthy..what more could you ask???