Clean Sweep

So what if I name my trees? I think we get on better being on a first name basis. A gnarley, neglected fig tree sits in the yard with a gaping wound that carved out much of its base. The arborist thought maybe it was a split trunk that was taken down in a storm, but who knows. We at first thought it might be from termites or in danger of falling, but in the end the oodles of charm won us over. Figaro stayed.

It was loaded with fruit when we got the keys to the place, and I handled the not-quite-ripe yield. Just a couple more weeks, and they'd be ready to pick.


Fat chance! A week or so later, a huge flock of migratory blackbirds swooped down and ate every stinkin' piece of fruit on the tree! The noise was deafening: they appeared out of nowhere, covered every branch of the tree, and just as suddenly the little thieves were gone.

So, no figgie for us this year: the whole of it had been picked clean in a matter of minutes, with nary a taste for the hosts.

My grandma used to say figs don't ripen once they are picked, but I'm hearing it depends on when they are picked and if the ripening is underway, the fruit should continue to ripen even after harvesting.

We'll try for a little intervention around harvest time next year just to best The Birds out of another clean sweep.