Figs!

Swedboy

Ten years ago I was given a fig tree that hasn't done much but grown a bit. I have now discovered a handful of fruits on it and wonder what do I do now? Just leave them till ripe (no idea how a ripe fig looks like on a fig tree). Not sure what the variety is, but I remember that my friends got me it from Wilco

B3

If you have squirrels, what to do with the figs will soon cease to be an issue😕

Swedboy

Luckily I don't have squirrels in the garden (to my knowledge)

Dovefromabove

Swedboy said:

Luckily I don't have squirrels in the garden (to my knowledge)

Then it stands to reason that your figs aren’t yet ripe 😊 

amancalledgeorge

You can tell when they're ripe by looking on the end...if it starts splitting, then you know it's ripe. If they overwintered on the plant they may be ready to eat soon...otherwise they will ripen next year if it is this year's crop. Sadly all of mine were enjoyed by the squirrels but the tree has many new ones thanks to the warm weather. 

Ceres

Most fig trees are "Brown Turkey". When the fruit is ripe, it swells considerably over a few days, turns from green to slightly flushed, becomes soft, and is usually easy to remove from the tree. One surefire way to get ripe figs is to grow them in a greenhouse or conservatory. You don't need a huge tree for this to work, just one stem about four feet tall. Now is the time to take cuttings if you fancy going down this route......it's one way to protect your fruit from wildlife.

Swedboy

I wish I had the space for a greenhouse.

Ceres

Ceres

With the weather warming up, I'm wondering if any of us will need greenhouses in future.

Swedboy

Very True

Dovefromabove

We’ll need them for the cold spells between the hot spells ... not to mention for the very wet spells when seedlings are at risk as happened to the brassica crop in the Fens this year. 

The ‘weather’ isn’t going to be warmer ... it’s going to be more erratic so that means colder and wetter too.