Friday, September 12, 2008

Our beloved fig tree

Near the entrance of our village, there is a huge fig tree (figuier). The French by the way has a different word for each type of fruit tree, apple trees are pommiers, peach trees are pechers, pear trees are poirier... When in doubt, I just add -ier to the fruit. I already have problems remembering all the conjugation, do you think I can remember all the names of the fruit trees ?


It is a magnificent fig tree bearing abundance of fruits every year. The Girl LOVES figs & from the moment the first fruits start to appear, she would ask me constantly if they are ready to be eaten. The only problem with the tree is that we can't reach many of the fruits. You see the picture above, the fig tree is on the right just next to the road & beyond that is a steep decline. Which means we can only access the fruits that are just next to the road & if I'm feeling a little brave, maybe reach out just a little. If you would only know how frustrating it is to see so many unreachable ripen figs.


I noticed that nobody else seem to be picking the figs. Ah well, more for us then. One day, Monsieur Chautard (who lives in the biggest house in the village) came over while we were there to say "Go ahead, help yourselves". Oops. I quickly apologised cos I didn't realise the tree belonged to anyone but he graciously said we could pick the figs anytime we wanted. And so we did.

Yesterday The Girl & I had our biggest haul ever & even after she had gobbled down at least 5, I still have enough to make fig jam. I'll post all about that next.

2 comments:

Beau Lotus 涟 said...

We had a fig tree when we were living in Spain and I still shudder when I remember it. Figs everywhere in the garden, all squashed and attracting all the insects in the world. It got so bad I refused to go into the garden at one stage.

I guess the fact that I do not eat the fruit didn't help.

petite fleur said...

I would love to have a fig tree in my garden. Not a very big one tho cos I can see what you mean when they start to fall. But given our family's love for figs - I'm sure we'll be eating every single one of them.