How to Harvest Figs in Britain

How to Harvest figs in Britain

In the British climate, your fig trees will try to make two batches of fruit per year. However, only the later batch will be able to ripen.

• In late Autumn, you will see small, hard little green figs (like big peas) growing on wood that is over a year old.
• If you are growing your trees in the open, you need to protect these baby figs from frost during the winter by wrapping them up well in straw.
• These will ripen the following year and be ready to pick in August-September.

Each year, you will also get little figs appearing during summer on wood that is less than a year old. These will not be able to ripen and you should pick them off to save the tree's energy for the later crop.

When to Harvest your Figs: A ripe fig is soft and droops down from the branch. Very ripe fruit are prone to splitting and will sometimes produce drops of sweet nectar - these need eating right away.

Storing Figs: Figs should be eaten fresh, but you can store them for about 2 weeks in a cool dry place - do not put them in the fridge.