Olympian Fig

A while ago someone posted some pictures of fig trees and it really got me thinking about planting another fig tree. We were shopping around Mother’s Day and there at the store was a group of perfect looking fig trees. I stared at them kind of wondering if I should get them or not. They were priced at $12 dollars so I thought why not.

I bought one and planted it in the front flower garden as a Mother’s/Father’s Day gift.

Olympian Fig

It stays pretty cool around here for any tree that likes warmer climates. It rarely snows but I had some reservations about how well the tree would do. I looked into it more and from what I have read, it has been growing around here for a hundred years and just recently was discovered and added to the market. It is very cold hardy and should do fine in warmer dry summers too.

There are two crops of figs per season. One from figs that winter over and ripen mid summer and one in the fall. The fruits have a violet skin and red flesh.

Read more on The Olympian Fig here.

Memories

I remember as a kid eating figs ripe off the tree in my grandparents house in California. There’s nothing like the taste of fresh figs off the tree - they were so much better from what I remember, than any I have yet to eat from the store.

Perhaps it had something to do too with the love I felt from my grandma as she encouraged me to, “Eat as many of them as you want.”

So juicy…

I’ve heard that figs are world’s oldest domestic crop from circa 11,400 years ago. I think we have a lot of collective memories of eating these juicy fruits. Perhaps it is the shape of the fruits or the color of the juice or pictures of half naked people clothed only in fig leaves - the fig can take me back to remember a time of innocents and abundance.

The Future

It sounds like it will take about five years to get any fruit off the tree. With any luck perhaps it will be sooner. A short time to wait considerings the years of domestication it took to get the fig tree to me in its present form.

Still I wonder if I will ever taste a fig off this tree. It seems so small it could easily make a meal for a passing deer at this point. The last fig tree I planted I never got to taste any fruit from because we needed to move before it grew large enough.

I’m happy with the thought that at least somebody someday may enjoy the taste of fresh figs. It doesn’t have to me.

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Thanks for reading! I always appreciate your support! Pictures are taken by me with my Galaxy S7.