Figs! Glorious Figs!

It's fig harvest time at Bidwell Botanicals. We love figs but the crop this year is insane! We leave the very top ones for the birds (also because we can't reach them). What to do with all of these luscious fruits? Here are a few ideas:

• For an easy and delicious appetizer stuff ripe figs with goat cheese, wrap in prosciutto and grill or broil until warmed through. Drizzle with honey and serve warm. In a word: amazing!
  
• Stuff chicken breasts with cheese, fresh spinach and chopped figs. Bake until chicken is done and serve with couscous or wild rice.
• Eat them on ice cream, sliced into salads, or fresh off the tree.
  
• Make preserves, chutneys or freeze figs in syrup (http://www.pickyourown.org/figs.htm)
• Share them with friends, neighbors or local restaurants.

Check out the CDC for more information on figs: http://www.fruitsandveggiesmatter.gov/month/figs.html

Dog Days

It's mid-August in the south and it is hot. How hot, you ask? Well it's so hot that the tar on the street is squishy. It's so humid that my carefully straightened hair now looks like I have a perm. Now that's hot! What can you do during these Dog Days of summer to stay relatively cool? I've got a few suggestions:

• If you have a pool or access to one by all means use it! There's nothing like floating in cool water to help bring down the temperature. Add a cold glass of tea or lemonade to that and you have Nirvana.
• Keep a fine mist spray bottle of water in the fridge. Add some lavender or cucumber hydrosol and use it to spritz the back of your neck, face, and anywhere else you require instant refreshment.
• Drink plenty of water. There's nothing like dehydration to make you feel sluggish.
• Speaking of dogs, DO NOT leave your pup in your car with the windows up when it's this hot! Remember to have plenty of fresh water for them to drink, especially if they stay outside during the day. They feel the heat too!
• Dress in cool, comfortable clothing. Light colors not only look cooler they also help to reflect light and don't hold the heat like darker colors. Natural cottons, bamboo or hemp fibers are best.

Hang in there! The summer heat is nearly over for most of us. Personally I am looking forward to the first brisk morning of Autumn. Then I can start complaining about the cold.