It’s that figgy time of year, when the bushes are supposed to be drooping with fruit, and I’m supposed to be fighting the birds for as many figs as I can eat. Only for the second year in a row, it’s not. Two consecutive bad winters have wiped out my fig bushes and those of my friends. The local bushes are mostly brown figs (also called turkey figs), a cold-hearty variety that has done very well in my garden until recently. Consistent below freezing temperatures kill the plants, forcing them to come back each year from the roots. Though they leaf out enthusiastically in spring, the growing season just isn’t long enough to form and ripen an abundance of fruit. So what’s a fig lover to do? I need figs to prepare my annual August Fig Feast: fig, walnut, arugula salad with fig balsamic vinaigrette; pizza with figs, bacon, rosemary, and goat cheese; and fig and almond cake with fig honey port sauce. There are times when exceptions have to be made to buying only local produce. Thank goodness I can still get California figs!