Fig

I tend to think of figs as coming from enormous trees that you’d have to climb in order to harvest, but the fact is that you actually can grow a fig tree in a pot. The authors of Growing Tasty Tropical Plants recommend three varieties: ‘Petite Negra,’ ‘Chicago Hardy,’ and ‘Black Mission.’ All three will grow to about 4 feet in height in a large container as long as they have full sun and aren’t exposed to temperatures much below 25°F. Plan on giving them a balanced organic fertilizer once every couple of weeks during the growing season, but don’t feed them in the winter when they go dormant. Just give them some kind of winter shelter and prune them in February or March to maintain a nice shape.

How are you going to work figs into a cocktail? Try muddling a ripe fig into an Old-Fashioned or infusing fresh figs in vodka with a vanilla bean. And if you’d rather skip the growing process and just buy a bottle of the stuff, look for fig liqueurs like FigCello di Sonoma.