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When we moved to our current home in the spring of 2012, I noticed a big, bare tree at the bottom of our slope. It stayed bare for a long time. “Is it dead?” I asked several master gardeners. And, of course, “What is it, anyway?”
Just because I’m writing about my garden for the A to Z Challenge doesn’t mean I know a whole lot.
“It’s a fig tree. Give it time.” Okay. I’d eaten figs a few years before and wasn’t impressed, but gardening brings out the adventurer in me.
Waiting, however, is not something I do well. This makes writing novels a particular form of torture, since each story must marinate for a time, and I often feel when I’m looking at a draft that I’m staring at a bare tree, waiting for the leaves to come, and wondering if they ever will.
Yet those gardeners were right. Around May of 2012, the first hint of leaves appeared. By summer, the canopy was full and glorious…and choking the light from two of my vegetable beds.
I had to learn to adapt. I handle adapting about as well as I handle waiting. Still, I took a deep breath and kept plants in those beds that get along better with less light and heat, such as lettuces and spinach.
Come August, the figs grew large. When do I harvest figs? I wanted to know. I found photographs online to show me. Sometimes I picked one or two to test them. Just in case you were wondering, unripe figs taste like cardboard. Yet as I checked, and checked, and checked (yes, impatience again), I started to notice a difference. They softened a bit and turned downward, each fruit heavy with sweetness.
And the taste of a ripe fig? Oh, Lord, I had no idea how good they could be. I ended up buying the book Under the Fig Leaf to help me with recipes (my favorite is a chocolate layer cake with a fig-based filling). Our second summer, I had enough figs to give away to friends…which to me, is the best part of having a garden.
The deer like to sit in the grass under the tree when it’s hot in the summer. They also like to feed on the leaves of the lower branches. Ms. Figgy is a generous sort, and it doesn’t seem to hurt the tree if I share her with our hungry friends. We keep them out of most of our yard with strategic fencing, so I feel better about giving them something to eat.
Am I learning patience and the ability to adapt? I think so. I hope so. At any rate, the fig tree is a beautiful, power teacher.
It has been years since I have eaten a fig. I don’t remember whether I lost interest in them because I no longer had a fig tree handy or what. I need to start exploring again. It is a beautiful tree.
Have fun on your trip.
Thanks! Yeah, if you get a chance, get a hold of one and try it again. They’re not cheap in the store, but even one or two is well worth it.
We love figs. They’re cheap and delicious and good for you.
Yes, I’m really into them now! I hope we get a good harvest this year.
I’ve never had a fig. I guess I must try one, but I suppose fresh off a tree would be best?
I think any fruit fresh from a tree is best, but especially figs. They’re a bit of an acquired taste, I think. At least they were for me.
I actually like figs, unfortunately figs do not naturally grow here in Wisconsin so it would have to be an indoor plant. I do not do well with indoor plants. (You have to actually water them!) I would love to try a fresh fig someday though and that tree looks awesome!!!
Thanks! I didn’t know figs would grow here, either (Washington State), but there it was. I have exactly zero indoor plants, too. I much prefer to have Mother Nature water them, with a little help from an irrigation system in the summer.
We have three huge fig trees. My husband makes fig preserves that are awesome! My baby girl used to go out as a toddler and we’d find her under the fig tree snacking on figs.
Wow, three fig trees! That’s incredible!
I remember my old friend, Newt. One day, I asked him, would you like a fig, Newton? There was some confusion as to whether I was offering him a cookie or an actual fig, so was went our separate ways.
Oh, groan….
so we went our separate ways. I hate typos.
You are so lucky to have ‘green fingers’. I’m terrible with plants… 🙂
I love those cake squares that have figs/dates/currants….
When we lived in Houston, some friends of mine were on the board of Urban Harvest, an organization that runs community gardens and teaches gardening classes. I took their gardening class a few years ago, and it helped a lot. Before that I knew nothing. I still consider myself a beginner five years later, but I do seem to have an affinity for plants.