POTTSTOWN PA – Dozens of people have indicated they plan to attend Saturday’s (Sept. 7, 2024) Pennsylvania Fig Festival, from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Althouse Arboretum, 1794 Gilbertsville Rd., Pottstown.
Public interest in figs – a sweet, meaty, and good-for-you food often found in subtropical climates – may be a precursor of their potential growth in occasionally chilly Pennsylvania.
The fig festival is intended to foster interest in regional fig cultivation and growth. It will host several of the region’s best known fig growers in a series of talks and workshops. All are free and open to the public. “If you love figs, you can’t miss this!,” its representatives suggest.
Fig festival organizers include Donna Howard Wethey, development coordinator for the arboretum’s non-profit operator, GreenAllies; and West Chester-based fig growers Mike and Vickie Piersimoni. Planning began back in May. Volunteers were recruited during the summer.
The day’s program, Wethey reports, will be filled with information on fig growing and propagating. It will be accompanied by tastings, the availability of fig-related foods for purchase, a raffle for fig trees, and some trees for sale.
A Sunday (Sept. 8) rain date has been set aside in case of inclement weather. For more information, call the arboretum at 267-371-2288.
Actually, they’re flowers … not fruit
Figs, growers patiently explain, are not fruits. Instead they are the inverted flowers of the fig tree, growing in a bulb or pod known as a “synconium.” Figs hold a variety of health benefits. The Cleveland Clinic earlier this year stated that figs “are packed with fiber and nutrients,” and are “great for your blood sugar, heart and gut.”
The clinic notes that figgy fiber aids in digestion and improves heart health. Figs supply essential nutrients like copper, potassium, manganese, magnesium and vitamin K. Other fig nutrients, it indicated, may play roles in fighting cancer, aiding weight loss, and help in managing blood sugar.
In locations like Greece and Italy, where fig trees have thrived for centuries, they gained popularity as a natural sweetening ingredient for all kinds of foods. Figs can be light- or dark-skinned, and feature flavors reminiscent of honey, berries, sugar, or combinations of them.
Figs can fare well in PA
Pennsylvania winters and cold temperatures are not a natural environment for fig trees, Penn State Master Gardener Patricia A. Morgan admits. Several varieties of fig trees or bushes, however, can do well as container plants brought inside during winter’s harshest months, she writes.
Depending on the variety and the grower’s protective measures, Morgan observes, they also can survive in-ground. The state’s increasingly mild winters help, and fig trees thrive outside in spring and summer under bright sun.
Top photo © inspirestock, 123RF Free Images, used by Travels With The Post under license
Hands holding figs photo by Doug Oster, provided by Penn State Extension
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