Oh yes, I Alisoned my fig. For out of my garden, under my care, one delightful fig emerged, unscathed, unbugged, but unfortunately, a teeny tiny bit unripe.
Somehow it also managed to make it through the season unFelixed, which just goes to show how very special this fig really was.
Interestingly, the fig seemed to ripen overnight. I could swear that yesterday it looked like the ones above, and by this morning it had transformed itself into lush, fabulous, almost ripeness.
I gently plucked the little fruit from its branch, tenderly sliced it open and gazed upon its figlike perfection. I was amazed at how much it looked like a fig inside, the colour, the texture, and the taste... oh the taste...
It was like a well balanced mixture of glue and chalk, quite marvelously awful on the palate, and my lips kept sticking together for hours afterwards.
So my fig made it through the season... and almost achieved greatness... almost... unfortunately I had forgotten that the biggest threat in my garden is actually... me.
My fig got ALISONED!
19 comments:
What a dreadful post. I was so excited for you and then you pull the rug out from under me. :-( Do not touch the others till you are SURE they are ripe. Are you listening?
Oh dear, one for the chooks or compost? :( When I pick our figs I wiggle them a little to see if they want to come off, if they resist too much I leave them to ripen some more... but leave them a day too long and they go all mushy! They're fussy creatures.
Oh Ali, I'm so with Hazel on this.
My taste buds went into overdrive when I read the "F" word..... and then I got nearly to the end of your post :O
Bad Ali - w a i t !!
:D
Oh NO! Figs are especially bad when they are unripe. At least you won't do it again!
Kat is right, they are ripe when they practically fall off.
Yes Mum! I am listening :)
Kat I don't know what I was thinking... I was so flabbergasted when I saw a ripe fig, and I gave it a little press and it was soft, so I picked it. Didn't even stop for a moment to think. It really was disgusting too. I will try your wiggle test with the others, my poor tree is rueing the day it got stuck in a hole at mine!
Susan there are three more on the tree, and I promise you, I will wait until the perfect moment of when I think they are ripe, and then I will not listen to myself telling me to pick them, I will wait for a whole other day. And if they aren't ripe then... well... I won't post about it!
Phoebe, it was one of the most terrible tasting things I have ever experienced! I will wiggle test them from now on, I promise.
It is very tricky to tell with those figs. Sometimes I go to pull them off and they squish in my hand. They get eaten by everything if you leave them too late and They don't ripen off the tree either.
VG that's what I was worried about, something else getting to them before I did. I shouldn't have worried, I usually bugger up things in the garden well before anything else! Do you cover yours with anything?
Ali, you shouldn't be so self-critical. Gardening is all about learning from one's experiences, be they successes or failures.
I have read that figs are one of the few fruits that never ripen further once you have picked them. Don't know why this should be. Everythig else ripens after picking (e.g. bananas!). Our supermarkets are packed with fruit labelled "For Home ripening" (i.e. Not ripe).
I have never eaten an unripe fig, and your description makes it sound repellent, but I can honestly say that few things are nicer than a ripe fig (especially with some Dolcelatte cheese).
Having not grown figs before, and since I've never tasted a fresh one, I wasn't sure if the "glue and chalk" description was a good sign or a bad one. =)
Nice post!
Oh I remember ripe figs straight off the tree while growing up. Nothing better, so I do hope the others survive all the nasties and you get to really enjoy them.
Figs don't ripen off the tree because they actually aren't fruits, they are flowers. And unripe, urrrgh - your description is so apt!
Alan, yeah, not good... really really bad in fact, the sort of taste no person should have to endure :)
Mark as we speak one of the remaining three figs is changing colour... and I'm waiting... waiting... waiting... see, I've learnt :)
Ali, an elderly neighbour of ours covers her figs with little bags she has sewn out of gauze - she covers a few with each bag, but it saves them from the birds... now, that's fig dedication isn't it :)
Ali I don't net mine. I tried a net once but it was the wrong size and I got myself into a pickle trying to put it on. I nearly fell off the ladder. Every time I'd pull one side down the other would pop off. Now I just let the birds have a feast on the early top ones and they usually leave plenty for us towards the bottom which suits us fine.
But that probably isn't much help to you if you only have three more left on the tree!
Your blog is so cute !
Aww, thanks katoo!
We have a really old fig tree that produces a ton of fruit every year. Our figs droop downwards when they are ripe and you can certainly tell with our variety! We have wasps and birds but just share our harvest with them!
Hey Jo Jo, don't tell anyone, but I ate one... and this time I got it right, I wiggled it, it came off and it was fabulous. Figs are phenomenal! You are lucky to have an old productive one, tell me, do you prune it?
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