A Fall Sweetness

The first year that our fig tree produced we got about a dozen figs over a two week period.  Hubby and I carefully shared them.  They were like rare pieces of candy and we were amazed at how they tasted like figs!  Imagine our surprise at not being duped by the fruit tree catalog.

This year our fig tree has produced about ten cups of figs and we hurry to pick them the day before ripeness so that squirrels and raccoons and perhaps the resident ground hog do become aware of this tree candy.  We have been eating them like popcorn because they are still a luxurious rare form of fruit for us.  Then I sliced them in half and made a lemon/fig tart as the abundance became too great. 

The tart was made with sliced lemons, honey, butter crust, figs and fennel seeds. It was sweetly delicious.  Honey and figs make me think of the Bible or some exotic tent in a desert with an Arab offering his figs.  I have so many now that I made a date bar recipe and froze half of it because it was made in a large pan.
The next figs picked as this season ends may be frozen as well, because I have read that they can be kept that way.  What on earth will I do next year as this tree gets bigger?