Land Conservation, Public Access, and Figs!
Jack Spruill joins us to talk about land conservation, public access — and figs!
Land Conservation
We chat with Jack Spruill, whose farm is on the shore of North Carolina’s Albemarle Sound, the largest freshwater sound in the world.
Spruill plans to donate the farm to an organization that will maintain public access, with the land used for low-impact farming, research, and education programs.
At the moment, some of the property is used for a community garden — and a community fig orchard.
Talking about land conservation, public access — and figs — with Jack Spruill.
We talk about:
The idea of public access, and how it scares some organizations
Mechanisms for land conservation
Tips for bringing people together around food and gardening
The community fig orchard
Connect
Spruill Farm: spruillfarm.org
Rooftop Veggie Garden and Figs in Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh gardener Seth Finn talks about the rooftop garden where he grows veg and figs.
Fig plants on the roof of Dinette restaurant in Pittsburgh.
Container Gardening
Pittsburgh gardener Seth Finn talks about his container garden and the container garden on the roof of his daughter’s restaurant.
The restaurant rooftop garden furnished the restaurant with fresh figs and shishito peppers amongst other things.
We talk about:
Wicking containers
How often to replace or top up the potting soil
Growing figs in wicking containers on the roof
Plumbing together a series of containers to simplify watering
How to Use Fig Leaves in the Kitchen
Chef David Salt talks about how to use fig leaves in the kitchen.
Chef David Salt explains how to cook with fig leaves. Salt’s restaurant is Drifter’s Solace.
Coconut. Almond. Green fig.
These are some of the flavours people use to describe what they taste when Chef David Salt serves something flavoured with fig leaves.
Salt cooked with fig leaves in London, England, where he had a ready source of fig leaves in a nearby churchyard.
Upon relocating to Toronto, he didn’t know where to find them.
And that’s when host Steven Biggs received an enquiry that read:
“I am looking for fig leaves to make dishes with at my restaurant (fig leaf ice cream, jelly, savoury sauces, custards etc.) Is there any possibility of getting some from you, before they fall for the winter?”
Salt got some fig leaves, and invited Biggs to the restaurant to taste his fig-leaf ice cream, fig-leaf cheese—and a fig leaf grappa!
Cooking with Fig Leaves
Salt says that the most classic method of using fig leaves is in the same way as banana leaves — as a wrap. When used as a wrap, they protect the enclosed meat or fish, keeping it moist. They also impart a unique flavour.
When cooking with fig leaves, the leaf is used to wrap food, or an infusion used to pull out the fig-leaf flavour.
The flavour is delicate. Salt finds it pairs well with light-flavoured meats or fish; and light-flavoured fruit such as strawberries and blueberries.
But he says to be creative: He’s paired fig leaves with hot chocolate, a strong taste, and found worked well.
His favourite dish made using fig leaves is ice cream.
For people using fig leaves for the first time, he explains that heat can help to bring out the flavour—but to avoid boiling, which results in a stewed-vegetable flavour. When time permits, a cold infusion is best.
Drifter’s Solace
Salt is gearing up to create fig-leaf flavoured foods this fall at his brand new chef’s-table style restaurant in Toronto. It’s called Drifter’s Solace.
Toronto has lots of big restaurants. Drifters Solace is at the opposite end of the spectrum: It’s small and personal, for groups of 6-8 people.
Angelo's Fig Tree
In the Biggs-on-Figs segment for December 2020, we head to the Toronto suburb of Vaughan to get the scoop on the fig tree at Angelo’s Garden Centre.
Over the years Steven has had lots of people ask whether he knows of the tree. He sure does—he’s long admired it.
He finds out about the history of the 19-foot-high fig tree from Carlo Amendolia, owner of Angelo’s Garden Centre.
Figs: A Taste of Home in a Country of Immigrants
We chat with Montreal fig enthusiast—and fig tourist—Michal Hacio.
Hacio says that his passion for growing figs and meeting other fig growers started when he spent time living in Vancouver, where an Italian neighbour introduced him to fig growing.
A Taste of Home
Hacio says that in a country of immigrants such as Canada, people often bring something to connect them with their home country.
For many people, that something is a fig plant.
A Way to Connect
He finds that a shared interest in figs is a good way to connect with other people.
Hacio recounts the time he spotted a fig tree growing in the Westmount neighbourhhod of Montreal. He got chatting with the gardener…and by the time he was finished, he had heard the gardeners whole life story, including how the fig tree had been given to him by someone who was originally from Greece.
Overwintering Figs
Hacio has overwintered figs many different ways in Montreal. His key message for would-be growers is that there is more than one solution to overwintering figs in a cold climate. “Be creative,” he advises.
He’s met people who cart them into the basement, people who put the plants into a heated garage, and people who bury them.
“If you want to reap the reward of these fruits you have to be creative.”
Fig Books for Northern Gardeners
Growing and Sharing Figs in a Community Fig Orchard
Jack Spruill at the Spruill Farm Community Fig Orchard
In this interview that first broadcast live on the Food Garden Life Radio Show in 2018, we chat with Jack Spruill in North Carolina about the community fig orchard on his family farm and about his work developing a conservation project to protect the farm from future development.
Community Fig Orchard
Spruill explains that the farm grows very good figs. They were an important crop for his grandparents, who bought the farm in 1914.
But by the time his father took over the farm, things were starting to change. The figs still grew well…but they were no longer a money-making crop.
So his father started to let people come to pick figs for free. Along with fresh eating, there is a local tradition of making fresh figs into fig conserve.
The fig orchard was a community fig orchard even before he started to call it such.
Spruill says that these days, some people come to pick a few figs for fresh eating—and some still come for figs to make fig conserve.
Want More Information About Growing Figs?
What's New in the Garden, Q+A, Figs
In our mid-July garden check-in, we talk about what’s new in our garden.
Currants
The currant and gooseberry harvest
How to use currants
Did you know that red and black currants are pruned differently?
Rhubarb
Looking for a delicious rhubarb recipe? Emma shares her favourite
Carrots
Sharing our failures…we stressed out one of our carrot patches so badly that the carrot plants went to seed. Oops. Carrots have a 2-year life cycle—when they go to seed in the first year, that’s a sign they could use a bit more TLC
Beefsteak Tomato Harvest
The tomato harvest is coming along nicely, after some worry about blossom end rot
Fig Q+A
Why are my fig leaves drooping?
What’s going on with my fig leaves?
How do I make my fig into a bush?
REWIND: An Engineer Grows Figs in NJ
William Muzychko grows figs in New Jersey.
In a program first broadcast live on the radio show in 2018, we chat with Bill Muzychko of Bill’s Figs in Flemington, New Jersey.
Growing Figs in Containers
Muzychko grows over 180 varieties of figs—all in containers—and all in zone where they would not normally survive without winter protection.
Figs with Sub-Irrigation
Muzychko sets up his containers with a sub-irrigation system that provides the fig plants with a steady supply of water.
Francesco’s Fig Tree
The Story of a Fig Tree that Brought Together a Community
Excerpt from The Food Garden Life Radio Show, June 2020
In the Biggs-on-Figs segment, Steven is joined by author Helena Moncrieff, who shares the story of a Toronto gardener whose fig tree became an integral part of the neighbourhood.
Moncrieff is the author of the book The Fruitful City.
Henena Moncrieff, author of The Fruitful City, tells the story of Francesco’s fig tree
Off the Beaten Path with…Figs
Growing Unusual Fruit in PA
Excerpt from The Food Garden Life Radio Show, May 2020
In The Biggs-on-Figs segment, Steven talks with Bill Lauris, a chemistry teacher and nursery operator in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, who loves growing figs and other unusual fruit. Bill runs Off the Beaten Path Nursery.
Bill Lauris from Off the Beaten Path Nursery.
Heat Column to Protect Figs
An Innovative Overwintering Idea
A heat column for overwintering figs
Excerpt from The Garage Gardeners Radio Show, March 2020
In The Biggs-on-Figs segment, Steven talks with Will Pananes, a fig grower in Pennsylvania who uses heat column to protect his figs over the winter.
Growing Figs in the Mountains
Figs harvest from Tony Christini’s fig trees in West Virginia
West Virginia Fig Grower Shares Top Varieties
Excerpt from The Food Garden Life Show, November 2019
In The Biggs-on-Figs segment, Steven talks with Tony Christini, a fig grower in West Virginia whose focus is hardy and early-ripening fig varieties suited to his mountain growing conditions.
Grow Figs in Seattle
Seattle Fig Grower Creates Ultimate Fig Breba List
Excerpt from The Food Garden Life Show, October 2019
In The Biggs-on-Figs segment, Steven talks with Ben Nguyen from Seattle Garden & Fruit Adventures about growing figs in Seattle and about Ben’s Ultimate Fig Breba List.
Ocracoke Fig Festival
A Festival to Celebrate Figs
Excerpt from The Food Garden Life Show, July 2019
Tune in for a chat with Sundae Horn, who helps to organize the Ocracoke Fig Festival on Ocracoke Island in North Carolina. This two-day festival takes place this year on August 16th and 17th, and celebrates figs through food, history, music, and all sorts of fig stuff. Find out more about the festival—and find the recipe for Ocracoke fig cake—on the website for the Ocracoke Preservation Society.
Greenhouse Figs in Pennsylvania
A Greenhouse Grower Switches from Bedding Plants to Figs
Excerpt from The Food Garden Life Show, June 2019
Tune in for a chat with John Biberich, a greenhouse fig grower in Grove City, Pennsylvania.
John and his wife Sue started growing figs and citrus as they were looking for unique crops that give them a place in an industry that’s increasingly reliant on automation and dominated by discount and big-box stores.
It’s a neat idea to consider for people thinking of how to carve out a niche in horticulture.
Springtime Fig Shuffle
Springtime Fig Tree Care
Ross Raddi
Excerpt from The Food Garden Life Show, May 2019
Tune in for a chat with Ross Raddi. Ross is a 27-year-old backyard orchardist in the Philadelphia area who is passionate about growing his own fruit and vegetables. Ross talks about what to do with figs trees in the spring, as they start to come out of dormancy.
Greenhouse Figs in Massachusetts
Fresh Figs as a Crop
Excerpt from The Food Garden Life Show, April 2019
Tune in for a chat with Trish Crapo and Tom Ashley at Dancing Bear Farm in Leyden, Massachusetts. They got into figs by accident a decade ago—and now they sell fresh figs at farmers markets and sell fig trees to other cold-climate gardeners.
Hi, We’re Steve and Emma!
We help people grow food on balconies, in backyards, and beyond—whether it’s edible landscaping, a vegetable garden, container gardens, or a home orchard.
