the little fig tree that could; fresh fig jam

we planted two fig trees in our yard.  the older of the two is a brown turkey fig.  this year was a good year for figs-we picked 10 pounds!

did you know that figs are not actually a fruit?  they are a scion or an infructescence and almost all of the trees need a tiny wasp to pollinate the flowers.  that wasp does not live in tennessee and for that reason, only two varieties of figs can be grown here; the brown turkey and the celeste varieties do not need pollination.

so, what does one do with 10 pounds of fresh figs?  having made one tart and stuff myself silly with them, i made jam.  now i can have figs for the winter while i dream of summer, and the next harvest.

simmering the figs with cinnamon sticks and vanilla beans.  a little lemon juice and zest helped round out the flavors.

canned and cooling

until next year, this will have to do!  to make some fig jam, just use the basic jam recipe of 2 to 1 fruit to sugar  and add flavors as you like(citrus zest, spices, alcohol and so on) or try this recipe.  happy canning!