Step-Over Figs

Written By Steven Biggs - Fig Expert
I order straw bales for my kids to play with—they're like giant biodegradable Lego blocks. They all become mulch eventually!

I order straw bales for my kids to play with—they're like giant biodegradable Lego blocks. They all become mulch eventually!

By Steven Biggs

Straw for Kids and Figs

I USE LOTS OF STRAW in the garden. Last spring we got 30 bales. When I say we, I mean the kids and me. For the first while, the bales are all for play: giant biodegradable building blocks!

Over the summer, some of the bales break as the twine comes off. I use the loose straw for mulching.

Step-Over Figs

In October, I lay full bales over top of fig plants that I'm growing as "step-over" figs. These plants have low, horizontal main stems. 

I cut all of the branches from the main stem in the fall, making it easy to lay straw bales over the top.

With the step-over system, I select varieties that produce a good crop of "main crop" figs. These are the figs that grow on branches from the current season. New shoots can produce figs in one season.

The Challenge in my Garden

A step-over fig with a low, horizontal trunk that is easy to mulch and protect for winter.

A step-over fig with a low, horizontal trunk that is easy to mulch and protect for winter.

Under the straw bales: Step-Over figs that are tucked in for the winter.

Under the straw bales: Step-Over figs that are tucked in for the winter.

So far so good, right? Sort of. The concept is sound—and the straw does a great job of protecting my fig plants.

But...this corner of my garden is low and the soil is slow to warm up in the spring. The result is that my step-over fig plants don't start growing early enough to ripen many figs.

Lesson learned. I've started step-over fig plants in a warmer spot close to my patio.

And the solution for the step-over figs in these photos? Growing figs in cold climates often requires some sort of season-extending technique... And I think that the solution for me might be to install a low hoop-house over top of these figs in the spring. It will warm up the soil and get the plants out of dormancy sooner.

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Steven Biggs - Fig Expert

Recognized by Garden Making Magazine as one of the "green gang" of Canadians making a difference in horticulture, Steven Biggs is a University of Guelph-trained horticulturist, former college instructor, and award-winning broadcaster and author.

He has been teaching gardeners how to grow figs in cold climates since 2011. But his interest in figs took off in 1993, while working at a nursery with the UK National Collection of figs.

He’s the author of the first book about growing figs in cold climates, the award-winning Grow Figs Where You Think You Can’t. His articles about growing figs have appeared in Fine Gardening, Garden Making, and Edible Toronto.

When not in the garden, you might catch him interviewing fig experts for his Fig Culture podcast.

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