Drying my own figs!



Although having my own fig trees in the back yard means I've grown to appreciate raw figs, we simply get too many. We have two trees and we get more fruit every year--and unfortunately, there just aren't too many people we know who also appreciate fresh figs.  That means we end up with a surplus--after all, you can only cram your face with so many figs! And of course, it's a shame to waste food!

This year,  we decided to get a food dehydrator. It's very easy to use--basically, you line the trays with figs and set the temperature, and the next day you have dried figs.  Dried figs keep longer and seem to be a little more popular with people we know than fresh ones. The result of our first try at drying figs are pictured above--they aren't beautiful, but they do taste pretty good. The dehydrator itself just sounds like a fan--that's pretty much what it is.   Now that I've done a batch of dried figs (and have another batch drying away right now), I'm thinking about what's next.  I'll probably make some raisins if we have too many grapes (although that doesn't look like a problem we'll be having this year).  But I'm also thinking about doing dried tomatoes and banana chips. I don't even really like banana chips--but I might do a batch to see how they turn out--and because I can!



I'm finding it really satisfying to eat things I've grown myself, although there are some things about gardening (or as I prefer: urban farnming) that I'm getting used to.  Fighting with the bugs over my produce is something I can do without.  For one thing--those are my figs! Having wasps burrowing in and leaving half-eaten sticky messes hanging on my tree makes me pretty disgruntlyed. But for another--I am pretty much scared of stinging insects.  I respect anything that can a) fly, and b) will actually die in the attempt to give me a very nasty welt.  This summer, my spouse, the Meatman, has gone wasp-trap mad. He's got a few hung up, and watches them periodically to be sure bugs are flying into it and dying. I think he's taking a little too much pleasure in knocking the little bastids off, though.

I'm also getting used to the outdoors. I've never been an outdoorsy person. Nature is unpredictable. House are pretty safe--you've heard people say "Safe as houses." People don't say, "Safe as the outdoors." There's sunburns to think about, for example.  What I've discovered about sun exposure though is that diet seems to play a part in how much sun one can endure without getting terrible fried. Vitamin D and tomatoes offer a bit of protection (I won't swear to it--I've just been reading about it, and it seems to work for me.) Also, there's mosquitoes.  Mosquitos really love me. Right now, I'm a hive-y wreck. I won't use chemicals on my body to keep them off because it just doesn't seem worth it to me to wear poison, but I still haven't hit on what natural products actually work at keeping them away.  For the most part, skeeters have treated sandalwood, citron, patchouli, and eucalyptus as no more than seasonings.  This time of year, I am basically a moveable feast for them, and then I have gone and provided them a touch of variety. (I know I could just wear pants and long-sleeves--they end up inside my clothes--and no, I have no idea how!)

It's worth it, though, when I get something out of it, like a winter's supply of dried fruit. Actually, come to think of it-now I'll probably have to think up more things to do with dried figs--besides just eating them as is or with nuts. I'm thinking of adding them to roast chicken....

If I do, I might blog about the results.