Fruit of the Earth

We have coneflowers blooming! And we have figs!

This fig tree, which I got from Mama as a tiny 6-inch stick she had rooted in a pot, has moved around the Gulf Coast with me a couple of times. She gave it to me about 3 years ago, shortly before we moved from Mobile to Ocean Springs. Then at the end of 2005, when we relocated back to Alabama, I moved it again, this time in a bigger pot. It's still in the pot, but is very happy here on the patio in my fairly shady backyard. At some point I'll probably need to plant it in the ground, but for now it stays where it is.

I'm excited about the figs because they remind me so much of Granny and Grandpa. They usually had fig trees, and Granny would make jar after jar of preserves. Sometimes she would can whole figs in a very sweet syrup, and other times she would make a more jam-like concoction. But I will probably just eat my figs raw, if the birds don't get to them first!