Dehydrating Figs

I have been dehydrating figs for the last 2 weeks. Easiest dehydrated fruit ever and so addictive. I simply wash after picking and slice and put on trays and dehydrate at 135 until chewy and dry.



The sugars concentrate during dehydration and become like little pieces of sweetness. While I live in zone 6b/7a and really am right at the northern extreme for this fruit thus far I get figs reliably every year. In very cold winters they will freeze back to the ground but once the roots are established they always resprout and by mid September I am picking figs.

I have the variety Chicago Hardy. They root easily and I now have 6 trees that I keep at about 10 foot high. Rarely have I had a disease problem or pest that has required any sort of intervention at all. My kind of homestead fruit. Reliable, healthy and pest free.

A tip for growing all of mine are planted on the south sunny side of sheds and outbuildings. The sheds (especially the masonry one painted white) help to hold and reflect that heat back onto the plant and help keep the temps warmer in the winter.

I do have to put wire around them in winter to keep the rabbits from chewing the bark off.