I’ll write the recipe this weekend. Very very good with sharp hard cheese and crusty bread, though the bees and wasps will smell what you’re up to as they’re preserved in honey so will come visiting...
Try green figs that are on the trees in theory are the ones that should ripen next year. If you were to cut yourself a few I’m sure the tree wouldn’t mind. They will be bullet hard, but after the transformation they will be soft and beautiful. As you are vegan, there is the honey conundrum, so you could switch to double strength sugar syrup if you didn’t eat it.
The honey we harvest here comes from minimal intervention with the bees, only helping them here and there, and comes hives with unclipped queens, taking only what we believe to be spare, making sure the bees have plenty for the winter. We have two plant based people here who are happy to eat it as we try so hard to keep it ethical.
Thank you for such a full response, Will. Yes, I probably wouldn't use honey, I could use maple syrup or even concentrated apple juice, IF I can find it here in France. That was what I used to use in the UK. Somewhere I've also a savoury recipe for green figs (or perhaps they were pickled).
So glad to hear you use bee-centric practices and actually leave them honey for the winter! We had a bee-friendly top-bar hive made, just really to help the bees and have them close for pollinating our large veg garden, in Devon, but stupidly left it behind when we moved. But one of our distant neighbours here has roughly 35 hives, and I think a lot of his must come here – there are SO many bees on our land. (And we have a lot of bee-plants too.)
Reading this makes for a gentle start to my day in Fremantle, Western Australia - thankyou!
Our little fig tree is into it’s third year in our garden, each year it gives us a few more figs. I need to get out about now and cover it with something to prevent the birds and rats from getting to the fruit before we can. But I like the thought of your unripe fig recipe 🤔.
Thanks for these delightful windows into your world!
Love this post, so much. We’ve been gathering the ripe figs as fast as we can but the green fig preservation sounds perfect. Would it be a bit like Cypriot karadaki, the sweet preserved walnuts? Gorgeous stuff. And ‘guardian’ to the bees. Yes!
I have a fig tree full of green figs that I’m not sure will ripen before frost. I’m very interested in this recipe. From my farm in the southern US to yours across the pond, very good morning to you.
Wow those figs are stunning and the honey, stunning. And your words, stunning. Good morning from Brandenburg, Berlin, Germany 🌞
The green ones have turned out well. With sharp cheese they are delicious. I’ll share the recipe. Good morning from rural England.
Ooh. I have a brand new baby fig tree with a few hard tiny baby figs on it ... they're not going to ripen, so maybe I'll make a tiny batch of this ...
I’ll write the recipe this weekend. Very very good with sharp hard cheese and crusty bread, though the bees and wasps will smell what you’re up to as they’re preserved in honey so will come visiting...
Ah just realised that was September. Perhaps I AM too late for preserving green figs...??
Try green figs that are on the trees in theory are the ones that should ripen next year. If you were to cut yourself a few I’m sure the tree wouldn’t mind. They will be bullet hard, but after the transformation they will be soft and beautiful. As you are vegan, there is the honey conundrum, so you could switch to double strength sugar syrup if you didn’t eat it.
The honey we harvest here comes from minimal intervention with the bees, only helping them here and there, and comes hives with unclipped queens, taking only what we believe to be spare, making sure the bees have plenty for the winter. We have two plant based people here who are happy to eat it as we try so hard to keep it ethical.
Thank you for such a full response, Will. Yes, I probably wouldn't use honey, I could use maple syrup or even concentrated apple juice, IF I can find it here in France. That was what I used to use in the UK. Somewhere I've also a savoury recipe for green figs (or perhaps they were pickled).
So glad to hear you use bee-centric practices and actually leave them honey for the winter! We had a bee-friendly top-bar hive made, just really to help the bees and have them close for pollinating our large veg garden, in Devon, but stupidly left it behind when we moved. But one of our distant neighbours here has roughly 35 hives, and I think a lot of his must come here – there are SO many bees on our land. (And we have a lot of bee-plants too.)
Lovely. Thank you. I thought I was too late for the green figs, so thank you for that too.
All night rain
drummed the skylights
this morning more apples
and a fistful
of unripe figs...
The rain yes… it didn’t stop here. I’ve still got a few apples left by the looks of it.
Reading this makes for a gentle start to my day in Fremantle, Western Australia - thankyou!
Our little fig tree is into it’s third year in our garden, each year it gives us a few more figs. I need to get out about now and cover it with something to prevent the birds and rats from getting to the fruit before we can. But I like the thought of your unripe fig recipe 🤔.
Thanks for these delightful windows into your world!
Sarah
I’m so glad you found connection in my words.
Enjoy your day.
Enjoyed the walk (virtual) ! Love the bees 🐝 thanks for sharing. 🇨🇦
Glad you enjoyed the ‘walk’.
Delicious words as always Will. Thank you.
Thank you Susan.
A lovely snapshot, thank you as always
You’re so very welcome.
We started keeping bees this year, and they truly are a wonder!
We span about ten litres of honey yesterday. I added the empty wet frames back to the hive this morning to let the bees clean them up.
Looking forward to harvesting honey next year!
Love this post, so much. We’ve been gathering the ripe figs as fast as we can but the green fig preservation sounds perfect. Would it be a bit like Cypriot karadaki, the sweet preserved walnuts? Gorgeous stuff. And ‘guardian’ to the bees. Yes!
Yes exactly. I’ll share the recipe.
Lovely.
I have a fig tree full of green figs that I’m not sure will ripen before frost. I’m very interested in this recipe. From my farm in the southern US to yours across the pond, very good morning to you.