Figs

Just picked some off my tree! I don't eat them though...I just don't like them but my family does. If you ate one every day your system would probably get used to them.

Fig trees can grow in New Jersey? I was under the impression that they require very arid and warm climates to thrive. Turkey and the Middle East seem to be where most of our commercially sold figs come from. Turkey is by far the world's largest producer.

There are 3 or 4 fig trees in our residence that produce beautiful fruit every year...no problem, they adapt to Paris weather (as low as -8°C in the winter with occasional snow, lots of rain throughout the yr)...I also have an olive tree in my garden that is going to give me at least 12 olives this year!!! I eat fresh figs constantly, it is the season right now (Late Aug-early Nov)...my body is accustomed to them but I eat them really ripe...they are a fabulous source of calcium, iron and other minerals (like apricots, prunes and dates) and can be eaten dried year round...I do better with the fresh ones because the skin on the dry ones is really difficult to digest...if you don't like them fresh try making jam...incredible (reduce the sugar and eat a couple of tsps. each morning for the minerals)...
Sharon

I eat figs all the time

Another natural laxative can be Black Strap Molasses. 4 bucks at whole foods and it is loaded with minerals and helps with anemia.

I just made blueberry/molasses cayenne chicken wing sauce.

Yes CT, I have it in a huge pot on my patio. When the weather gets cold, we wrap it and roll it into our garage for the winter then bring it back out in the spring. Try it! My bro in law has his planted right in his yard and he's up in north Jersey. It's gotten huge and he gets a ton of figs.

I live in a condominium complex, meaning if I plant a fig tree, it has to go in a pot on my deck. I am not free to stick one in the ground whereever I want to, because the property is common grounds. Although I suspect the Condo Board might give me permission to plant one near the tree line because my backyard, although consisting of common grounds, abuts a wooded area that goes back to tidal wetlands. The tree line area might get approved, but that area is heavily stalked by a number of deer, and if deer eat figs, then that tree will get ravaged. I never saw more deer than I did this past summer and they were always feeding at the treeline in my backyard, 3 or 4 at a time. They also ate all my hasta (which is in a designated landscaped area) almost to the ground, and one of my neighbors had her tomatoes eaten.

How big do these fig trees get?? I am not sure I have ever seen one.

CTB,
If the deer can reach the figs then I want to see those deer! Fig trees can grow over 25ft tall and there are very few figs on the lower branches (we usually cut them off to allow the upper fruits to grow bigger)...and they grow fast too...we have 3 in the residence that are 10yrs old and over 25ft, 2 that are under 6yrs and are over 18ft...so let the deer have the their fun the first years!
Figs can be eaten with savory foods too...they go well around roasted meats and chicken (add them the last 1/2hr and drizzle some honey and sesame seeds or slivered almonds + salt + pepper) and we eat them with goose liver paté here...
Be creative, they are a real nutritional bonus for those with low mineral counts.
Sharon

Yup. I love fresh figs, but they definitely have laxative properties so I am very careful when and where I eat them, and limit the quantity.

Strangely, cooked or dried figs don't have quite the same effect on me, though again I try to limit the amount to avoid unpleasant after effects.

That being said, they are a great natural option for those who maybe are too thick in consistency, or have trouble moving the bowels. I'd imagine they'd be great to help with Cipro constipation, too.

Figs are also naturally high in magnesium, a mineral that many people with IBD are low or deficient in, so they are a great nutritional option if you can tolerate them.

I get the same reaction from very expensive Turkish dried apricots. I need to learn to eat just a couple at a time. (That'll be the day!) Sometimes I just decide to "pay the price"!

Dried figs, dried apricots, dates and prunes are all cousins in the natural laxative family. I think figs and prunes have the greatest laxative effect on me. As has been mentioned in this thread already, dried figs are a great source of fiber, copper, manganese, magnesium, potassium, calcium, and vitamin K, if you do not manage to crap all of it out.

CTB,
It all comes out in the end, no matter what you do!
Sharon