Fig for a king

The noble fig has a long and distinguished history on the other side of the world but you could also say it is a tree meant for Australia, with our dry, hot, harsh conditions.

Thousands of years ago it was recorded in Egyptian and Greek manuscripts as being a royal food. But it served the common people as well and dried figs were often issued to soldiers as part of their rations.

Traders and explorers have taken the fig to most lands around the world. The fig was brought to Australia by the early settlers and has since yielded new Australian varieties. By the 1920s dried fig production was an important economic enterprise in the Murrumbidgee irrigation area. Now commercial fig production is mainly for the fresh eating market.

Our most productive fruit tree across our entire orchard last season was a Black Genoa fig. We grew this tree from a cutting taken from when we first came to Canberra and rented in Pearce from an Italian family with Griffith connections, back in 1984. It produced more than 30 kilograms of fruit through the season and, given their certified organic status, there was high demand for them at the weekly Capital Region Farmers’ Market.

But my real story is about the new fig trees that we have planted in the past three years. We cannot wait another 20 years for them to begin producing, as with our first trees. So what did we do differently and how did we keep them alive and growing on during the latest drought, with heatwave conditions?

Figs are hardy plants, growing on the hillsides of southern Mediterranean countries and across the Middle East where temperatures can be as high as in our land. I have found that without supplementary water they do not flourish.

First, we dug the ground quite deep and removed any rocks. I think the early fig trees took much longer to establish themselves because they were planted in rocky ground. We then made sure the little trees had good root systems to ensure they would settle quickly into the new planting and begin to produce shoots and fruit. We mixed into the planting hole a goodly quantity of well-matured compost.

After planting, we sprinkled a tin full of organic slow-release pellitised fertiliser around the bush, then mulched with sugarcane mulch. We also covered the entire planting space with old woodchips to prevent the main mulch being blown away and to provide extra protection from the hot sun.

Supplementary watering has been the modus operandi all summer. I do have them on the general irrigation watering lines but it was hard to keep up enough water to see them well established. The thick mulch meant that when a bucket of water was poured (still carefully, of course) there was no risk of erosion and washout.

So have the results been worthwhile? Was the additional care, through many weeks of hot and dry weather, the solution?

Fig trees grow best in fertile soil, in a well-drained location. So with our most recent plantings, we have been able to pick figs from trees that were planted out just two or three years ago. All of the newly planted trees have produced luscious new leaves and grown their shoots very well. Water is the key ingredient for all gardens and orchards, and you must include figs in that listing too.

I would also say beginning with a tree that has a good root structure is vital. If you are able to secure a plant from a grower, so much the better, because Canberra suburban nurseries have a habit of cutting back the root systems of all their deciduous fruit trees ‘‘so that they can be potted’’.

Oh for the old-fashioned rectangular raised nursery bed where the bare- rooted trees were kept so successfully and all of the roots were left intact.

The practice of severe trimming of roots by nurseries sets the plant back by one or two years.

For us, as we have come out of the heatwaves and drought conditions, we can look forward to an extended harvest. We do need to net every producing fig tree to protect the delicate crop from marauding birds.
Black Genoa figs will produce a modest pre-Christmas harvest, called by Greeks the Breda

harvest. Now we are beginning to harvest the crop of Brown Turkey figs as well as the main Black Genoa crop. In addition, we are enjoying the first, small harvest from the White Adriatic, Preston Prolific, Dora’s Supreme White and the St Dominique Violette fig trees.
Once picked, the fig does not ripen further.

So take care when to pick your figs at harvest time. Wait for them to be fully coloured but still firm to the touch. Gently twist and pull them off the tree, keeping the stem on the fruit. Enjoy the sweet taste of a ripe, home-grown fig or if you have a big crop, turn some into jam.

If you want to dry figs, select fully ripe ones and allow plenty of hours in the drier.

Baked figs

6 black or purple figs
1 cup toasted muesli
1 tsp grated lemon zest
80ml cream
juice of 1 lemon
2 tbsp brown sugar

Halve the figs and place, with the cut side up, onto a lightly greased ovenproof dish.

Drizzle lemon juice over the figs.

Mix the toasted muesli with some of the lemon zest and half of the cream, then fill the centres of the figs with the mixture.

Dollop the remaining cream onto each fig half, then sprinkle the remaining lemon zest and the brown sugar on top. Bake for about 10 minutes in the oven, pre-heated to 200C.

Remove from the oven when you can see that the sugar has melted and syrup has formed in the dish.

Serve while still warm, spooning a little syrup onto each fig. Served with whipped cream.

This week in the garden

■ Plant out a selection of loose-leaf lettuces and Asian greens to continue your home supply through autumn. Begin planting field peas for a winter harvest into garden beds that have grown heavy feeders over summer.

■ Plant out sugarloaf cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower seedlings to get them well established before the cold nights arrive.

■ Continue to plant a small selection of lettuces and Asian greens for a late- autumn harvest. If you have not had time before, plant out some silverbeet and spinach.

■ Harvest pumpkins that have dying leaves and dried stems. Leave the stems attached to the pumpkin to seal it. Firstly place them in a dry location, with some sunshine for a few days, to harden the skins and help extend their storage life.

■ Keep picking up fallen fruit from under your fruit trees. Where you have real windfalls, you can peel and cook these fruits. Where the fruit has been damaged or is overripe, dispose of thoughtfully.

>> Owen Pidgeon runs the Loriendale Organic Orchard near Hall.