Tools for Picking Figs from the Tree

Ladders and Step Stools

• A small step stool will help you harvest just-out-of-reach figs on higher limbs. You can reach fruit on taller trees with a fold-out ladder, as long as there is enough clearance for you to stand on it. If you plan to use a ladder or step stool that's more than a few feet high, have someone else stabilize it for you while you pick the figs.

Long Fruit Pickers

• Long fruit-picking tools are perfect for harvesting figs. Rips figs will fall from a branch at the slightest touch, so you don't need to worry about whether your tool has a blade or not, and you can harvest several figs at once with the handy basket. Most baskets on extended fruit-picking tools have some sort of padding or foam to cushion harvested fruit, but you can also use a small towel in a pinch.

Extended Grabbers

• Elongated grabbers are helpful tools for harvesting just-out-of-reach figs from a tree. Devices such as reachers and hand-held golf ball retrievers serve as a simple arm extension that you can use to pluck a ripe fig from its branch with little effort. Since ripe figs are somewhat mushy to the touch, it's best to try to harvest fruit by the stem with these tools.

When to Pick

• It's crucial to harvest figs when they are fully ripe and either barely hanging on a branch or freshly fallen on the ground, as they will not continue to ripen when separated from the tree and they will ferment quickly. The Old Farmer's Almanac notes that ripe figs are soft to the touch, like a peach, but not mushy or bruised. Under ideal conditions, fig trees can produce a spring and fall harvest, but peak production times are usually from July or August until the first winter frost.