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FIG TREE HARVEST
- Joy Krauthammer
9.11.2019
Forty years ago when my daughter was in pre-school, I planted Mama fig tree from a small twig, a scion from a friend's grandfather's tree in Italy. This is the same type of foot-long, finger width, end of tree branch, straight (not curved) barren twig filled with potential that I cut down every January and give away by the hundreds every Tu B'Shevat, especially at 7 species 'Seder' rituals.
Being very miserably allergic (I suffer) to the thick, milky-white latex sap dripping from each plucked fig onto my fingers or feet, I hire someone each week of season to harvest for me, although I love the pleasure of picking, which I try to do every day, or else figs spoil and fall to the ground, making a juicy purple squishy big mess that needs serious cleaning. Flashy iridescent green large Japanese beetles love to suck on the figs and fly fast past my face. I harvest 40 figs each time touching each fruit to make sure they are not too soft, nor too hard, but just right and ripe, needing containers, baskets to collect them. I may place figs in collected empty egg cartons. I must try to remember to wear gloves but then I miss the sensual pleasure from touching figs.
My trees are on steep slopes which makes it dangerous for me to climb and harvest, especially with slippery fallen figs. I leave 80% of the tree for G*d's flying and climbing creatures. I hope that the dangerous West Nile virus carrying Aedes mosquitos don't eat me while I harvest in the Garden of Joy but yesterday I got a bite. I try to prepare and cover myself in long pants, long sleeved shirt and big hat, but I lazily wear open sandals, and not socks. Sometimes I add rubberbands to bottom of pants.
When I bring dozens of luscious figs to an event, like last night's creative craft gathering, no one knows how the pretty figs, displayed whole or sliced, came into being. Now you do. I bring extras already bagged for those friends that I know especially appreciate eating the organic yummy figs. Makes me happy to drive fresh figs to friends, or fire house, colleagues, clergy, doctors, shop keepers, and give them all away.
(Some neighborhood kids sell their figs at a lemonade-like stand. Some people sell their fig scions from $10 - $20 each.)
Season is now near the end. Usually the figs remaining on tree in September do not ripen, and the countless large yellow leaves begin slowly to fall to the ground. In 4 months I'll hire someone to climb into and prune the trees, and after examining every branch, again I'll give away only the perfectly formed barren fig branches (waiting and rooting in water-filled vases) to others to have the pleasure of being 'fig mamas' as I've had for last 4 decades.
I love seeing all the photos you send to me of your growing fig trees, legacy of my 40 year young Mama fig.
