Notebook on Figs and Lavender

Our garden's crowning glory is this lovely fig tree that is beginning to explode with these delicate jewels.

This garden beauty was planted last spring and we had no clue that it would grow so profusely. I'm talking by leaps and bounds. I understand now that - that is exactly what figs do...grow fast and big and big and fast.

So far we've had two seasons of fruit and I have read that there should be two fruit bearing times per year. YES! Score!

In all honesty, I've never really been one for figs (except those sweet little fig newton cookies) until this season when these little emerald jewels started ripening and drew me to take a little bite.

I've learned that there are several kinds of fig tree and our particular one is a Peter's Honey Fig. I guess it got part of its name because these figs literally taste like honey and they ripen with a fruity like fragrance. Supposedly they're a favorite of chefs for gourmet desserts.

There are Black Mission figs and they have a blackish-purple skin and dark pink flesh. There are Brown Turkey Figs (brownish) that I've read work well in salads. The Calimyrna Figs are a bit larger and have a nutty flavor and the Kadota Figs are less sweeter than all the others.

Fig Inspiration
Author Vicki Archer (My French Life) has inspired me even more so with her love of figs (which are ripening in France right now).

Vicki caught my attention as she described drizzling Lavender honey over her breakfast figs.

I thought . . . well, I have lavender and I have honey so I can make some lavender honey.

How to Make Lavender Honey
So, I poured a little amount of honey in a sauce pan (do not use Mesquite honey - is yucky tasting) and as it began to heat slowly . . . I walked my little o'l self out to one of our garden spots, picked my little o'l self some of my lovely fresh Lavender sprigs . . . .

There is a bit of Swiss Chard still nestled in this Lavender.

I'm actually nuts about Lavender in the garden. If I had my way, I'd have an acre or more of just Lavender. This fragrant plant is a good companion to Eggplant, it repels ticks, and it supposedly when planted around the edges of a garden it helps keep rabbits away.

More importantly to me is the calming sense Lavender's fragrance and beauty provides the feminine soul.

How lovely is this?

After I gathered my fresh Lavender sprigs I headed back to my kitchen. My honey was hot enough to add the Lavender flowers - just slide them off the stalk and toss them into your hot honey.

Leave the Lavender in the honey until your honey cools down, then drain it off.

Slowly drizzle the Lavender honey over your figs.

The fun part - slowly drizzling that sweet Lavender honey over these gifts from heaven and then taking sweet little bites. They are great served with plain yogurt or mascarpone cheese.

How do you use figs? Got some ideas to add? Got grandma's favorite recipe for fig jam?