On Sat, 30 Jun 2007 05:12:57 -0700, Sheldon > wrote:

http://i16.tinypic.com/4rcpy4k.jpg
http://i19.tinypic.com/4mcekjs.jpg

>Wow, that's some dense fig tree. Up here in the north fig trees only
>get a few sparse branches and not nearly so many figs, and that only
>if properly wrapped in tar paper, with clothesline, and an old pant
>bucket on top for the winter.
>
Actually the first picture shows two trees that have intermingled.
Next one is a close up of another tree. The closeup shows a variety
of fig that I didn't know till I moved to this house. The previous
owner planted it. Its fruit stays green even when it's ripe and is
honey flavored to my palate. For the first time this spring it bore a
few early (I believe the term is "breba") figs, but usually it bears
late in the summer. I didn't know the green figs were ripe till the
birds started eating them that fist summer. Now I can tell when they
begin to droop down that they're getting ripe, but I still have to
feel them to see if they're soft.

The huge one in the first picture is a variety that I've known all my
life. My grandparents had one in their yard in the 1950s and 60s. The
figs are smaller and tan to brown when ripe and less distinctly
flavorful than the big green ones. The leftmost tree is too big for
me, actually. I can't harvest all them when they're coming in fast.
The birds get the upper ones mostly, but I have climbed up on the roof
of the studio building behind it (yup, there's a one-story studio on
the other side of that tree in the picture, and that fence on the left
is six feet tall) to get the ones I can reach near the top. Last year
the drought destroyed the crop. The unripe figs dropped off the
trees. This year it seems the trees are making up for lost time.

I plan to dry them again this year like I did two years ago when the
harvest was big. Dried figs do nice things mixed with feta, rosemary,
black pepper and lemon zest and then stuffed into pork chops.

>More than enough mint for juleps. I love persimmons, can't grow them
>here. Nice hammock... do you find time to partake?

The hammock was a birthday present, and I've used it a little. This
summer's heavy, almost daily rains have reduced my yard lounging
considerably.

I'm still trying to figure out what to do with the persimmons, but
they are beautiful in the fall when the leaves drop and the persimmons
hang on the branches like little pumpkins.
--

modom

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