my parents have a fig tree, i went to see if they are ripe and alot of them have fallen already, but the ones on the tree still have a pretty tough skin. all the ones i have eaten are very soft. are these ripe. about what month are they most ripe. someone please help thankyou. lisa
Wow, your figs actually fall to the ground...the birds dont let mine get that far. I've got to fight them to get a fig. Anyway... Your figs are ripe when they are quite soft, they turn from green to an all over brownish color, and when you pick them they will ooze a white sap from where the stem attaches to the fruit. They call that white sap "latex", I guess because it is quite sticky. As far as when they are the ripest- I started eating mine about 3 weeks ago, and they will continue up till late fall. They don't keep well, when you pick a ripe one you have 2-3 days to eat it or it will go bad. There's not really a particular month that they are ripest, you should be able to eat them for a few months. On a side note- made fresh fig cobbler with my first batch this summer, It was quite good. Lots of things to do with them besides just everyday fig preserves.
The cobbler idea is great didn't think of it. I have frozen some for winter smoothies with the excess. In Southern California the most common fig is the Mission fig. It get very dark almost black when ready to eat. It also will start to break at the "flower end". It should be very sweet and very dark inside too.
Hadn't occured to me to freeze them, do they thaw out in good condition? that's my biggest problem-having time to do something with them in that small window of time between picking and them going bad. I'll have to look up fig varieties to see what kind I have. Ours turn brown and the flesh stays a bright red, very sweet though like yours.
You may have a Brown Turkey. Very sweet indeed. No, the figs don't look good at all after freezing but perfect for something like a cobbler.