I have the brown turkey variety which will turn brown when fully ripe.
They are edible when they are still green but getting soft. Just like
any fruit the riper they are, the sweeter, but figs tend to go from
ripe to over ripe complete with fruit flies very quickly. I just had
to experiment the first year to see when mine were prime for picking.
Having some that are still somewhat green mixed in with ripe fruit are
best for making jelly. If you have a problem with fruit flies, pick
while still green but softening and they should ripen on the counter
in a day or two.

Bruce

On Tue, 30 Sep 2003 11:03:10 GMT, ajlajl
wrote:

Hi, We have had a fig planted in our garden (london). The fruits are
getting quite large (3inch long), are softening up a bit. They are
green & pear shaped.
How can I tell when or if they are edible ?
Many thanks