fruit Archives | Diana's Designs Austin

Bountiful fig harvests mean it’s fig jam time

Over the last week, 3 of my friends and neighbors have shared figs from their drooping, fig-laden trees with us.

We had 2 or 3 different varieties of figs. The ones in the middle, came from my mail carrier. We talk plants periodically when I’m outside and he’s actually hopped out to take a peek at my vegetable garden. (Shhh – don’t tell anyone!) My figs aren’t ripe yet – they seem to be larger than the small ones and smaller than the large ones. I know that mine is a Brown Turkey fig tree. No idea what these were.

I believe the large purple ones are Black Genoa, Black Spanish or Purple Genca. They were the sweetest figs. The figs on the left were larger than those on the right (though it’s hard to tell from this pic) and came early, soI think they are Celeste. Those are just guesses. Who knows what the really are. There are more than 700 varieties of figs, some don’t fruit and some require two trees for pollination. All these figs came from single trees. That’s all I know for sure!

The first figs went into a delicious salad of field greens, walnuts, peppadew picante goat cheese, and proscuitto. I made a balsamic reduction with balsamic vinegar, honey, spicy Asian plum sauce and poured it warm over the salad. It was amazing.

We ate fresh figs everyday throughout the first days we had the figs and then Jeff made refrigerator fig jam.Chop, chop, chop. (It takes a lot of figs to make jam).

Then comes the sugar. These figs were all so sweet, we agreed that the next time we’d use less sugar, and might add some balsamic vinegar to bring out the natural sweetness of the fruit.

The house smelled great as they were bubbling in the pot. Mother Nature’s air freshener!

He didn’t can them, though he sometimes goes that extra step. This refrigerator recipe will keep for up to 3 months in the fridge. I can tell you they won’t last that long in our refrigerator.

After scooping them into the jars we shared some of them and bought some English muffins. You know what happened next.

A wonderful, fresh home garden treat, we’ll be enjoying the jam this winter as well.

There are hundreds of other recipes for fresh figs or fig jam, chutney, sauce, etc. I’m already thinking of pairing the fig jam with pork chops, among other things.

If you don’t have a fig tree in your yard, trust me — you’re missing out.

By Diana C. Kirby|2018-07-19T09:14:37-05:00July 19th, 2018|Black genoa fig, brown turkey fig, Celeste fig, fig, fruit, fruit trees, recipes, Sharing Nature's Garden, trees, Uncategorized|3 Comments

I’m ready for cantaloupe — is it ready for me?

With a high of 99 degrees yesterday, summer’s sting is lingering. But that’s good news in my vegetable garden, where I am eagerly awaiting my first cantaloupe. Its smooth, green, immature surface has been steadily changing, forming a lacy, beige skin that tells me it’s almost time to eat.

This one still has a long way to go.

As it begins to evolve, you’ll know it’s getting closer.

If you have a sunny spot and some room for vines to meander, you can grow cantaloupe. They like well-drained soil; my veggies grow in raised beds, so that makes it easier.

Their growing season is about 12 weeks. In Central Texas, we can plant them in late March-April and harvest them from mid summer to fall. Cantaloupes are rich in vitamin A, vitamin C and potassium, and are low in calories.

There are several ways to tell if your cantaloupe is ready. First, make sure it’s covered with that raised, lacy netting-like skin. Then, it should come off of the vine easily with a gentle twist. If you have to work at it, you’ve jumped the gun! And finally, sniff the end where you removed it from the vine — it should yield that sweet, heavenly, cantaloupe scent. The one above still isn’t ready, the skin between the lacy part needs to turn a beige-ish color, too. Don’t worry, if you do get too excited an pick one too soon, you can let it ripen a few more days in the refrigerator before you dig into it.

I’m hoping for a big bowl of cantaloupe with my breakfast this weekend!

By Diana C. Kirby|2017-11-29T23:26:55-06:00September 21st, 2016|canteloupe, fruit, how do i know it's ripe?, melon, Sharing Nature's Garden, vegetable garden, when to pick|0 Comments

Fruit trees in the garden bearing fruit after recent rains…

A tour through the garden this week, after several significant recent rains, has me smiling. Several of our trees are bearing fruit, thanks to a change of seasons and the end the our drought status.

The Texas ever-bearing fig tree we planted this spring is perking up after the summer and producing a second crop of fruit. I can’t wait to taste them, as those from the spring were stressed by the transplant and heat.

It’s a lovely little tree, but I have had to put up a fence to keep Dakota, the fruit-vegetable-bulb-grub-eating dog away from it.

The pineapple guava is getting to be quite large for its spot and when it’s done fruiting, I will do some more pruning on it. I’d like it to be a little less multi-trunked so we can see the structural nature of the tree.

Dakota had eaten some of the guavas, but there are going to be enough for us as I’m keeping a closer eye on her!

The pomegranate tree is absolutely full of fruit. The birds and squirrels often get into these, and I usually leave some on the tree to split open and give them a treat. I’m going to try some different ways for us to enjoy the arils this year. They’re so good for you — their health benefits include helping to fight heart disease, blood pressure, high cholesterol. They have also been shown to help inhibit breast, prostate and colon cancer. We have many more than we could possibly eat, so I’ll be sharing. If you’re in Austin, let me know if you’d like to come get some — they’re not quite ready yet, but it won’t be long now. Just post a comment if you’re interested in coming to get some.

There is no fruit on the loquat, but it’s blooming all over, so that’s a promising sign for future production. Except that this fruit tree sits next to the Pom, so the squirrels usually have a field day with the loquats because they are much less work to eat. I’ll have to be the early bird to get this fruit.

What’s fruiting in your garden?

By Diana C. Kirby|2017-11-29T23:26:58-06:00November 14th, 2015|Blog, fig, fruit, fruit trees, loquat, pineapple guava, pomegranate, Sharing Nature's Garden, Texas ever-bearing fig|0 Comments

Fantastic finger limes pack a punch with flavor-bursting pearls

I picked up a fascinating fruit at the grocery store this week — finger limes. They are just a little longer than an inch and are less than half an inch wide. Being a gardener and a foodie – I had to have them.

I have a sliver of fresh lime in my hot tea in the morning and thought these would be great for that.

Reading the label, I was curious. “Delicious pearls bursting with lemon/lime flavor. Use on fish, in cocktails, ice cream baked goods and guacamole. Slice for rings, squeeze for pearls.”

What?

So I took my trusty paring knife and sliced. And then I squeezed. It was the strangest sight. The segments, or vesicles, aren’t triangular in shape, like most citrus, but rather round pearls that burst forth from the fruit. They literally POP in your mouth, much like caviar. The fruit is firm, and not very juicy and its flavor is tart and slightly more bitter than most other limes.

The finger lime tree is native to Australia, and grows in the rainforest as an understory tree. The skin can be green, yellow, red or purple.