My Mom has several fig bushes and some years there are so many you can't hardly give them all away, while other years, like you said, if the winter is harsh, they freeze down to the ground and barely produce any. We did not have them when I was growing up, so they seem a little strange to me as an adult. My Stepdad grew up poor in the country and said they were like candy to him and his brothers and sisters as they rarely got any real candy. He said none of the figs were safe when they began to ripe back then.