Not long ago a friend described the process of wrapping her fig tree\u2014Ficus carica–for the winter.\u00a0 The image triggered a cascade of memories, going back to my childhood in western New York State.\u00a0 My town had a very large Italian-American population and many families, especially those with immigrant parents or grandparents, grew figs.\u00a0 I am sure multiple varieties grew in multiple backyards, but the \u2018Brown Turkey\u2019 type seemed to be the most popular.\u00a0 In the fall the old men\u2014it always seemed to be the grandfathers\u2014would plant sturdy stakes around the trees and gently swathe them in yards of burlap for protection against the cold.\u00a0 It must have worked, because the trees survived and every summer they provided bountiful crops of sweet fruit.\u00a0 A friend who lives in my town has given me some of his fresh figs on occasion.\u00a0 Their sweet, melting taste is unforgettable.<\/p>\n
Figs, which originated in Turkey and Iraq, have been with us for a long time.\u00a0 Martyn Rix, in the wonderful book, The Botanical Garden<\/i>, writes that they were cultivated 6,000 years ago in Egypt.\u00a0 The ancient Greeks associated the plant with Dionysus and his pleasure-loving ways, as well as Demeter, goddess of grain.\u00a0 The Romans also revered the fig tree, under which Romulus and Remus, founders of Rome, were reputedly suckled by a she-wolf.\u00a0 Perhaps because of that, the tree was treated as a symbol of good luck.\u00a0 Then, as now, people relished positive symbolism as well as tasty fruit.\u00a0 The great Roman naturalist Pliny, writing in the first century A.D., described over twenty fig varieties.<\/p>\n
Figs have also been symbols of security and stability in the Judeo-Christian tradition.\u00a0 I am reminded of the passage from the Old Testament Book of Micah about every man sitting under his \u201cvine and fig tree.\u201d\u00a0 When I think about it, most of the families in my hometown who grew fig trees also raised a grape vine or two.<\/p>\n
Roman legions took the sweet-fruited tree with them to Britain and it stayed, even after the Romans left, thriving in many places.\u00a0 It came to the colonies early, arriving in Florida and elsewhere with the Spanish in the sixteenth century.\u00a0 Captain John Smith, whose name lives on because of his role in the Pocahontas story, wrote in 1621 of figs being brought to Jamestown from Bermuda.\u00a0 As is their historical habit, they took root and became popular.\u00a0 Thomas Jefferson, ever anxious to produce as many top-quality edible plants as possible, grew \u2018Marseilles\u2019 figs at Monticello.\u00a0 Similar plants still thrive in restored gardens on the estate.<\/p>\n
I saw a large, handsome fig tree on my last visit to Monticello, sheltered near a brick wall on a terrace below the extensive kitchen garden.\u00a0 Like all figs, it was a handsome plant, bushy, with large, deeply lobed leaves.\u00a0 It was covered with green teardrop-shaped fruits.\u00a0 These days, with Jefferson no longer around to sample the ripe figs and share with his friends, they are distributed to the Monticello staff.<\/p>\n
If you decide to grow figs at home, pick a variety that is right for your USDA climate zone.\u00a0 The \u2018Brown Turkey\u2019 cultivar that grew in my hometown is one of many that survive in cold-winter climates.\u00a0 Make sure to select a self-pollinating plant, because most places outside of the Mediterranean are inhospitable to the insects that traditionally pollinate figs.<\/p>\n
Figs need a sheltered, sunny spot, preferably one that receives at least six hours of direct sunlight per day.\u00a0 If you can\u2019t grow it in-ground, your fig tree will be very happy in a large container under the same sunny, protected conditions.\u00a0 In either situation, mulch to preserve soil moisture and nourish the plant.\u00a0 For potted figs, water when the surface of the soil is dry.\u00a0 Provide supplemental water to in-ground plants during dry spells.\u00a0 Organic growers favor feeding figs once a month with liquid seaweed (kelp), which can also be applied as a foliar spray.\u00a0 Traditional all-purpose fertilizer will do the same job.\u00a0 Feeding is especially necessary for container-grown figs, because potting mixes eventually become depleted.<\/p>\n
And, of course, in climates where temperatures dip below freezing, winter care is important.\u00a0 Potted figs can be overwintered in unheated spaces that stay above freezing.\u00a0 In-ground figs sink deep roots, but protecting the above-ground portion will pay off.\u00a0 Make a snug cocoon for your plant using stakes and burlap, or a hardware cloth cage filled with straw.\u00a0 Secure it well to withstand winter\u2019s high winds.\u00a0 This will also work for potted figs in containers too heavy to move.\u00a0 Unwrap in spring after all danger of frost has passed.\u00a0 The plant may look dead, but take hope and wait a bit before passing judgment.\u00a0 Many a dead-looking fig has grown back from its roots.<\/p>\n
The memory cascade triggered by my friend\u2019s fig tree has brought me back to \u201cfiggy pudding,\u201d celebrated in Christmas carols and part of my own cultural heritage.\u00a0 I don\u2019t have a fig tree yet–though I might just order one next spring–but I can celebrate by making my own figgy Christmas pudding.\u00a0 As the old year goes out, it seems right to connect past, present and future with something rich and warm.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Not long ago a friend described the process of wrapping her fig tree\u2014Ficus carica–for the winter.\u00a0 The image triggered a cascade of memories, going back to my childhood in western New York State.\u00a0 My town had a very large Italian-American population and many families, especially those with immigrant parents or grandparents, grew figs.\u00a0 I am … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,2,3,5],"tags":[1054,1055,1061,1060,1056,1057,1059,1058],"class_list":["post-1230","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fall","category-general-interest","category-spring","category-summer","category-winter","tag-ficus-carica","tag-fig-trees","tag-figs-in-history","tag-growing-figs","tag-growing-fruit","tag-historic-trees","tag-monticello","tag-thomas-jefferson"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1230","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1230"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1230\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1231,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1230\/revisions\/1231"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1230"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1230"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1230"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}