Some of you may have noticed that the blog was hacked this week. Talk about something that throws a wrench in your day – I’ve never been hacked before! I really don’t get the motivation behind messing with people’s sites just to leave a little note saying they’ve been messed with, but this blog is back online for the time being.
Gardening 2010
Everyone keeps saying this was not a good season to start a garden. I’m grateful for their reassurance that my newbie garden issues weren’t all my fault, but I’m even more grateful for my fig tree, which just kept going in spite of too much water, too little water, too hot, too cold, and an atmosphere of complete neglect. I did everything wrong, and it still gave me figs. I <3 that.
The Biblical Fig
For some reason, figs feel biblical to me. I honestly don’t know if that’s legit, because I know hardly anything about the bible. Except that I think I’m supposed to capitalize it? The Bible. There we go. But anyways, this summer when it was very hot and very dry, my fig was green and leafy and soothing to sit under. Sitting under it and gazing up into its leaves, I felt like if I only closed my eyes, I would be transported to another place, another time.
Photo CC || http://www.flickr.com/photos/taomancer
This Is Not Your Kid’s Fig Newton
Before this year, I had never eaten a fresh fig. I don’t know what I was expecting, but definitely not this amazing juicy, sweet tastiness. If you haven’t eaten a fresh fig, I would recommend running out and getting one right now. Quick, before fig season is over! It is short, but oh so sweet. And nothing like a fig newton.
I took some of our over-ripe figs and made homemade fig newtons. These were also nothing like a “real” fig newton. Or maybe “real” fig newtons are but pale imitations of homemade fig bars and I just never knew it before. Finally, I made fig jam, which is not only awesome but will forever have my affection (someday nostalgia) as being the first thing that I canned.
A little internet searching proved that figs do indeed have a controversial biblical history. I guess I wasn’t entirely off base with that. And my experience this year wasn’t a matter of luck – figs are easy to grow and care for in a variety of regions. They can also do well in pots, and can bring a little sweetness to apartment dwellers’ container gardens. Whatever the reason, if I were discouraged enough to give up on my gardening attempts (I’m not. I’m way more stubborn than that), my fig tree would have been my redemption.
Fig trees are like pet rocks. Everyone should have one.
Re: hacking–I was wondering what had happened to your blog. What jerks!
Anyway, I’m now intrigued about figs. It sounds like a good “container tree” and I may have to visit the local nursery next spring to see if they sell them here. I commend you on your gardening efforts–anything to do with plants (of any variety) tends to be something of an adventure. My latest project is seeing if I can keep an orchid alive that was a total impulse buy. (Is it weird to impulse buy plants?)
I know, huh? At least I got it back up and running – more indignation than trouble.
They sound like they make fantastic container trees, although mine is HUGE and would not work in a container. But your local nursery would definitely know about types that would do well in your region and if you can get it to grow on your patio… they’re just fantastic!
I used to impulse buy plants ALL the time, but then I started moving so frequently that I got out of the habit. I had to rehome all my plants when I left Colorado and it made me so sad. However, now that we have a house, I will probably start up again (even though the moving will probably continue).