Let’s get this out of the way: Fig growing in the Green Mountains is not for the faint of heart. Having originated in the Mediterranean, the trees prefer a subtropical climate with a long, lazy growing season and winter lows that rarely dip below 20 degrees Fahrenheit. But Fearless Figs owner War ren Dixon, a potter and tinkerer in Monkton, has taken on the task of growing more than 500 trees of 100 varieties in his backyard. Coaxing fruit from these needy trees in Vermont’s less-than-ideal environment involves burying them in trenches each winter or relocating them to a climate-controlled area for a period of comfy 20- to 50-degree dormancy. The finickiness of figs doesn’t stop at their overwintering needs, either. Successful growers need to get a handle on their long ripening season, the differences among the hundreds of varieties, and the learning curve of propagating a cutting, protecting them from pests and knowing when to harvest — an art in itself. “The longer you wait, the more complex the flavor gets, but you risk it going too far. It can go from perfectly ripe to moldy in a few hours,” Dixon said. For optimal enjoyment, figs must be picked ripe (they soften after picking but do not continue to ripen), so they don’t travel well. Due to the labor-intensive practices needed to keep them alive in Vermont, few local growers produce them in sizable quantities. Charlotte’s Golden Apple Family Farm sells some organic fig trees and figs, but “most of ours go to Honey Road,” co-owner Heather Herrington said. Last September, LePage Farm in Barre posted about harvesting enough figs to share after a few years of experimentation; time will tell what this year brings. “I think it’s safe to say that I’m the largest [grower in Vermont] at this point,” Dixon said. He increases his yield each year, with mature trees producing hundreds of figs each, and expects to harvest as many as 10,000 this season. “I’m going to be a picking fool this year,” he said, laughing. Particular about proper picking, he generally harvests solo. (Friends do sometimes volunteer to help move his potted trees indoors for the winter, though; if he’s going it alone, the process can take an entire week.) Fig season generally runs from mid-August through October. Dixon sells at the Shelburne Farmers Market on Saturdays and Hinesburg’s Yates Family Orchard on Sundays ($7 per half-pint basket) and offers by-appointment tours of his operation (suggested $10 donation). He plans to sell the bulk of his fruit fresh, offering 50-fig flats in peak season ($50, expected in the second half of September). Backup plans include freezing or drying extra fruit. A variety of Fearless Figs (from left): Pellegrino, Randino, Adriatic JH, Socorro black and Kesariani Credit: Rachel Stearns This August at Dixon’s homestead, I savored the different flavor notes while trying to resist the urge to gobble up the fruit immediately. All good figs should be soft, Dixon said, “almost like a bag of jelly.” And looks aren’t everything: Brown spots, cracks and oozing sugars can all be signs of the complexities within. “The uglier, the better!” he said. But the figs were gorgeous inside, gleaming in shades ranging from caramel to ruby. Their flavor was a concentrated, honeyed berry, with some leaning more toward jammy fruit, some closer to pure honey. The texture had the segmented feel of the inside of an orange, with the thin skin and tiny seeds of a blueberry. Each piece melted delightfully in my mouth. Was I in Monkton or heaven? No stranger to a fickle crop, Dixon, 49, has grown niche items such as ginger, turmeric, saffron, shiitake mushrooms and hardy kiwis. He’s been homesteading with his wife, a teacher, for 16 years on a piece of foreclosed property they purchased at auction. One winter about six years ago, Dixon discovered a thriving online community of fig growers. He clicked his way through fig forums and an eBay-like platform for all things fig, sites where people were giving away free cuttings and selling rare varieties “from some grandfather’s tree in Italy,” he said, for upwards of $500 apiece. He was intrigued by the idea of growing figs up north and pushing their limits. “I found a fairly big grower in Pennsylvania. I’m like, Well, that’s kind of close,” he said. He also loved that a single branch could form a whole new tree with relative speed. “Seeing a stick come to life is still exciting for me,” he said. Dixon sells trees ($25-115) and cuttings ($5-10) to those who want their own pet project and even offers troubleshooting when things go wrong. Fearless Figs has piqued the interest of restaurants, orchards and co-ops, Dixon said, but for now, he’s noncommittal about branching out. “I’ll see how it goes. But I don’t want to be driving all over the state to try to distribute them,” he said. “I enjoy growing the things and chatting with people about them.” If you’re up for the challenge of starting your own grove, more power to you — but consider yourself warned. ➆ Fearless Figs, 802-425-4441. The original print version of this article was headlined “For the Love of Figs | In Vermont’s short season, a Monkton grower goes to great lengths to cultivate the fruit” The post A Fig (or 500) Grows in Monkton at Fearless Figs appeared first on Seven Days. ...read more read less