The revised fig book is now on Kickstarter The special hardcover edition of
Grow Figs Where You Think You Can’t and registration for the October 15 and 22 Fig Camp are available now. A lower-priced softcover will follow this fall.
See the book and Fig Camp options.---
Craig Boyer of
Coastal Fig Company joins me to talk about a fig-growing system with great potential for cold climates: fig cordons grown low to the ground inside high tunnels, with a second layer of protection using low tunnels or row covers.
Craig explains how he’s using low cordons for commercial fig production in Pennsylvania. Instead of digging and burying fig trees each fall—or instead of heating the greenhouses—Craig trains horizontal cordons close to the soil, then holds in heat with covers.
In this episode we discuss:
- how the fig cordon system works
- combining high tunnels and low tunnels for passive winter protection
- getting fig bud break and fruit production dramatically earlier
- pruning and spacing strategies for commercial production
- leaf pruning and airflow management
- “the row cover dance” and avoiding heat damage
- fig varieties that performed best in Craig’s trials
- using passive solar heat instead of paying heating bills
Craig also shares how support from the Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program helped make the project possible (see below).
About Craig’s work with cordon figs:
This material is based upon work supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, through the Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program under subaward number FNE22-003-AWD00000495.
What is Fig Culture: Helping You Grow a Fig Tree in a Cold Climate?
Want to grow figs but live somewhere with cold winters? Our passion is growing figs in cold climates.
We help cold-climate fig lovers grow a fig tree in a pot, grow figs in the ground, and, most importantly, conquer winter.
There are many ways of growing figs in cold climates. Find out how you can successfully grow figs in your garden. Learn about fig-tree care. And get creative ideas for winter protection.
Host Steven Biggs is a cold-climate fig expert, horticulturist, and the author of the award-winning book Grow Figs Where You Think You Can’t, the first book specifically about cold-climate fig culture. As a horticultural journalist, he interviews other fig experts, and writes about cold-climate fig culture for magazines and for his own blog at FoodGardenLife.com. His fig fetish began in 1993, when he spent a summer at the nursery with the UK National Collection of figs. He hasn’t looked back.