Desert King Fig: It’s big, green, sweet and easy to grow.
There’s nothing like a fresh fig, especially if perfectly ripe and dripping with nectar (see blossom end of above photo). And of all the figs you can grow in the Pacific Northwest, Desert King (a name that belies its happy habit in a cool climate) is one of the earliest and least fussy varieties I know of. It ripens about the first week of August, but you have to act quickly as they all seem to ripen en masse within a week to ten days. If you wait too long to pick them, the birds will make an easy breakfast, lunch and dinner of them.
Desert King figs before their brief encounter with sweet cream and shortbread cookies
It’s most entertaining to feed a fresh fig to an unfamiliar diner. It’s a texture, consistency, and wallop of sweetness not duplicated in any fruit. Most fresh fig neophytes take pause before making some odd faces. One of my favorite recipes for fresh figs is the cheesy fig bomb. (What’s not to like: figs stuffed with goat cheese wrapped in bacon and broiled. Was that an angel I heard singing?) Whether you enlist these juicy gems for sweet, savory or fresh eating, the Desert King fig is a reliable choice for the home orchard. Saveur.com has some nice fig recipes, too, but chances are you’ll never look at fig newton the same way again.
21 responses so far ↓
1 rowena // Aug 13, 2009 at 1:35 pm
Cheesy fig bombs sound delightful. I will certainly try putting that together when I see figs beginning to overflow the supermarket shelves. Seductive pics!
2 June // Aug 13, 2009 at 3:24 pm
Oh, take me home country roads! Desert King figs look incredible. I wonder if they have one called Pacific Northwest Queen down here. Mmm.
3 Peter’s Honey: My New Favorite Fig // Aug 19, 2009 at 4:26 am
[...] in the week, I waxed on about a fig named Desert King; juicy, prolific, dependable and one of my favorites. This week I beg its pardon, and must [...]
4 Annette // Aug 23, 2009 at 7:56 am
I can’t wait until mine is producing – do you have any idea how many years it takes? I just put it in this year, along with the potted violetta. Now I guess I need a Peters too…
5 Eileen @ Passions to Pastry // Aug 23, 2009 at 11:50 am
Oh my gosh… you have figs too!
6 Tom // Aug 23, 2009 at 3:19 pm
Annette, the Desert King produces usually in the second or third year — yeah! I have another new favorite I’ll blog about soon: Negronne, a gorgeous black fig of notable flavor. Only got one this year — but one was enough. -tc
7 Annette // Aug 23, 2009 at 4:26 pm
Oh my I need an orchard. Can the Negronne go outside year round? Or do you have to bring it in during winter?
I’ve been obsessed with the idea of growing an avocado tree here as well. What do you know about that? I think I need to dismantle the kid’s fort and build a greenhouse there…
8 Tom // Aug 24, 2009 at 4:40 am
Negronne grows outside beautifully here, no need to bring in and ripening in late August.
As for avocado, strickly a greenhouse plant here. I grow lemons, limes and oranges but bring them inside to the house’s south facing windows in the late autumn and return outside in pots in late spring.
9 How to Know When a Fig Is Ripe and Ready to Pick // Aug 30, 2010 at 10:07 pm
[...] Widgets ← Desert King Fig: At Home in the Pacific Northwest Peter’s Honey Fig: My New Favorite [...]
10 Vern’s Brown Turkey Fig: Nice Fig Vern // Sep 8, 2010 at 4:50 pm
[...] Dessert King Fig [...]
11 Linda Cahill // Sep 8, 2010 at 5:26 pm
Hi: Enjoyed this info with pix. I have a 10+ year old Desert Kig fig tree in my Seattle backyard. Had > 300 figs this year: 200 went to the happy birds and bees, 100 went to me and ahppy neighbors. Love fig jam, especially in appetizers and cookies.
12 Tom // Sep 8, 2010 at 6:15 pm
Linda that is a great harvest and the ratios of distribution not too bad if it led to jam making. Love fig jam!
13 Bj // Jun 8, 2011 at 2:46 pm
Hi Tom,
Its already June, I have 2 desert kings; when does these trees come out of dormancy?
14 Tom // Jun 8, 2011 at 2:59 pm
BJ, mine are just now coming out of dormancy, quite late I’d say. You’ll probably have fruit by the end of August, maybe a little earlier.
15 Bj // Jun 8, 2011 at 6:15 pm
Thanks Tom. I would recommend the Desert King to anyone this side of the Cascades. It does very well, gives a lot of fruits and is super sweet.
16 BethT // Jun 10, 2011 at 7:10 pm
Great site Tom….any tips for planting Desert King Fig in PNW. The spot I’m thinking of is a fairly protected Southern Exposure.
17 Tom @ Tall Clover Farm // Jun 11, 2011 at 6:56 am
Thanks BJ,
And Hi BethT, your Desert King fig will be very happy with a southern exposure. Of all the figs I grow, Desert King is the least fussy.
As for tips, remember figs produce off of last year’s growth, so if you plant a young tree that is one long stick, prune the top, that is the growing tip to encourage branching. The more branches the more figs. Figs have soft wood and are easy to prune. So in addition, prune out any dead wood and I suggest a couple bags of composted steer manure as top dressing each spring as figs are pretty heavy feeders. Good Luck!
And here’s how to tell when they are ripe, http://www.tallcloverfarm.com/351/how-to-know-when-a-fig-is-ripe-and-ready-to-pick
18 Lynda // Aug 18, 2011 at 5:21 pm
WOW My Desert King is a giant and taller , way taller than my house and this year is covered with hundreds of lovely figs and they are sweeter this year than ever before,, So wonderful to know what kind of fig tree I have in this great city of Eugene, Oregon,,, Joy to the World,,,, This is truly God’s nectar,, Namaste’
19 Tom // Aug 18, 2011 at 8:41 pm
Thanks Lynda, what a gift you have in that tree. I just had a fresh fig, goat cheese, prosciutto pizza ….uummmmmm, just in case you need a use for them.
20 Joy // Mar 10, 2012 at 10:39 pm
I live in Bellingham WA. We have desert king figs which is like having tropical fruit in a temperate climate. I wonder about a stepover espalier. Have you tried doing this with your figs?
21 Tom // Mar 11, 2012 at 10:47 am
Hi Joy, I find figs are happier or maybe I’m happier letting them grow as they wish with a little pruning help from me. I find the wood brittle and not well suited for espalier, but that doesn’t mean you can’t do it. Just don’t prune out too much of last year’s wood which has the fruiting buds.
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