I have a fig tree and plan to sell the figs to individuals. Can you help me with a fair market price, and also what is an approximate shelf-life for figs at room temperature. I keep them in the refrigerator once picked and some people prefer them un-refrigerated. Why?

 Figs are very delicate and perishable and won't keep for more than a week and don't travel well, which is one reason most people in this country haven't eaten fresh figs. But they are delicious — the sweetest of all fruits — and beautiful on the inside, so we applaud your efforts to make them available to the masses (at least in Alabama).

No matter how much your customers clamor, though, don't pick the figs until they are ripe. They will continue to soften a bit once you take them from the tree, but the flavor will not continue to develop.

Charge what the market will bear. The few online sources of fresh figs that we have found appear to charge about $8 a pound (and upwards of $40 for express shipping). The cooperative extension agent in your state will have a much better sense of your local market than we, in our ivory tower in chilly New England, could possibly have.

Figs can be refrigerated for a few days, but should be brought to room temperature before they are eaten, because the cold masks their delicate flavor.

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