To each his own! It is a matter of preference and fig variety. My Celeste figs are sweet as soon as they first turn brown, but my Magnolia figs are bland and tasteless until full ripe. Even the Celeste figs are much sweeter when they are dead ripe, but they are sweet and edible much sooner than the Magnolia. If your fig friend is happy with her unripe figs, let her eat them early. I would prefer to wait. There is always a trade-off. If I wait until my Magnolia figs are ripe, the birds always get them before the next day, so I tend to pick them at an unripe stage and let them ripen "on the shelf" for a day or so. Not as good, but at least I get them instead of the birds!

Ann, I am with you. I dont pick the figs until they start cracking, and then wait a few days. To me it is an unbelievable waste of time and energy to grow your own fig tree and then pick unripe fruit. If I did that I might as well eat the store bought figs and grow pears that ripen off tbe tree instead of figs which only ripen on the tree.

Thank you...ejp3, I think you summed it up well. I sadly must say that they got moldy before they were what I'd call enjoyable and I just threw them in the compost.

I think the lady is mad at me, but I couldn't pretend they were delicious!

Thanks for the moral support,

Ann