Fig and drying afternoon

The 2026 afternoons have been and gone. The next dates are in August 2027, and we would rather list a real date a year out than pretend there is one sooner.

What the afternoon looks like

15.00. Cold drinks and a look at the trees, including how to tell a fig that is ready from one that only looks ready.
15.30. Picking, in the shade of the trees, which is genuinely cooler than it sounds. About an hour.
16.30. To the trays. Splitting, laying out, mesh over, and moving the trestles to catch the last of the sun.
17.15. The trays from three days ago come in, and you can compare what a fig looks like on day one, day three and day five side by side. This is the useful part.
17.45. Cold drinks again, and whatever we have open in the way of jam.
18.30. Done.

What you actually do

You pick figs, you split them, and you lay them out. None of it is hard work. What it is, is hot: mid August here is 33 to 38 degrees in the afternoon, and we start at three because that is when the sun has come off the drying yard and the picking is bearable, not because it is a civilised hour.

The reason we do it in the afternoon rather than the morning, when the picking is genuinely better, is that the trays go out for their last few hours of sun and come in with us at the end. You see the whole cycle in one session instead of half of it.

What you take home

A 250 gram box of dried figs from a previous batch, because the ones you laid out will not be ready for another three days.
A jar of fig jam.
The fresh figs you picked, if you want them, though they will not survive a long journey.

Important, about fig sap

Fig latex, the white sap from the stalk and the leaves, irritates skin, and in sunlight it can cause a burn like reaction that blisters. This is a real thing and not a precaution we have invented. Long sleeves, and wash your hands and forearms before you sit in the sun afterwards.

We provide gloves and we would rather you wore them. If you know you react to plant sap, this may not be the day for you.

What to wear and bring

Long sleeves, for the sap rather than the sun.
A hat, and more water than you think you need. There is plenty here, but bring a bottle you like.
Closed shoes.
Clothes you do not mind marking. Fig sap and ripe fig do not come out.

Weather

In August the question is heat rather than rain. If the forecast is above 40 degrees we cancel and offer another date, because we are not going to have eight people standing in that. It happened once, in July 2025, and it is the same heat that took most of that year's crop.

In the very rare case of rain in August, we still run it. The picking is quicker and the trays go under cover, and you get to see what a wet August does to a fig crop, which is a lesson in itself.

Who this afternoon is not for

Anyone who does not do well in real heat. That is not a polite way of saying it is mildly warm. It is 35 degrees in the shade and there is limited shade.

Children over eight are fine and generally love the splitting part. Under eight, the heat is the problem rather than the work.

Anyone with a latex allergy or who reacts badly to plant saps should read the panel above and probably choose the January morning instead.

How to book

Email hello@nossoparaiso.com with the date you want and how many of you there are, or use the form on the contact page. We reply within a couple of days.

We hold the place while we confirm, then ask for the full amount by bank transfer. There is no online booking system and no card payment on the day.

Cancel more than seven days before and you get everything back. Inside seven days we refund half, because at our group sizes an empty place is a place nobody else could take. If we cancel for any reason you get everything back. This is set out again on the questions page and in the terms.

Why only August

Because the main fig crop runs from the first week of August to about the middle of September and the drying only happens then. There is no version of this day in April. The trees, the two crops and what the 2025 heat did to them are covered on the fig page.