The vast majority of domestic fig production in the United States is concentrated in California, because the cost of overwintering fig trees in colder climates is a barrier to the expansion of commercial production. But on one farm in Yardley, Penn., Craig Boyer is exploring a new method of overwintering figs with the aim of establishing fig production as a viable enterprise in Northeastern states.
Boyer used a Northeast SARE Farmer grant to establish a fig orchard using the Japanese Stepover Espalier method. This approach trains fig trees to grow horizontally, just above ground level. During the growing season, upright shoots grow upwards from the horizontal cordon to bear fruit. Their goal was to extend the growing season in the spring and fall and to protect the plants from damaging frosts by using this technique in combination with low tunnels under a high tunnel. Since espaliered plants grow low to the ground, it’s easier to insulate them with mulch or low tunnels.
Boyer found that high tunnels combined with low tunnels extended the growing season up to two months in the spring and up to one month at the end of the season. Figs grown under combined high and low tunnels broke dormancy as early as February, or two months earlier than the ground-planted figs. Air and soil temperatures under the high and low tunnels were 20–24° warmer than the ground-planted figs. They were also able to harvest fig fruits two months earlier than fig trees grown in-ground, giving them the opportunity to harvest earlier and grow longer into the season.
Although the method is labor intensive and time consuming in its setup phase, the benefits of early harvest, ease of winter protection, and simplicity of pruning are significant, and indicate a potential for bringing fig fruits to local and regional markets at a competitive cost. “If we can redefine local as meaning within 50 miles—not 500 miles—I believe we can make the lives of both farmers and consumers more gratifying,” says Boyer.