Q: When turning my compost pile, I uncovered a number of big, fat grubs. They were about the size of my thumb! Are they harmful? A: These are most likely the larvae of fig beetles (Cotinis mutabilis).

Question: Since there are so many fig beetles this year, I wonder if I need to treat the soil with nematodes to stop the larvae from eating my vegetable roots. What do you advise? Answer: The fig ...

After writing about the fig beetle – a shiny green scarab beetle that feeds on overripe fruit and decomposing organic matter – I received the following email from Elizabeth Russell, who gardens in ...

I probably had my first taste of fig preserves at about age 2. Our family ate so many jars of fig preserves nobody ever bothered to stick the jar in the refrigerator. It would be gone in a day or two.