Our fig tree will make it through winter
With the help of a neat little trick
Or else it will have to dash indoors
Before winter gives it a lick
*
The first time we buried our fig tree
Uncertain that it would survive
Was October, weeks before winter
And the fig tree was still much alive
*
We covered her up with earth matter
Top soil and leaves and some twigs
And buried her into the garden
In hopes that next spring we’d have figs
*
All winter we looked through the window
At the spot where the fig tree once stood
Hoping she’d survive the cold weather
With ice, snow and soil for a hood
*
In May we uncovered her branches
Lifted her out of her trench
So shocked by her clear resurrection
We sat ourselves down on a bench
*
This winter has been a tough business
The snow is determined to fall
And just when I think it is over
I find it’s not finished at all
*
Snow stands in piles out my window
Blows in when I open my door
It sticks to my shoes like a layer
And deposits itself on my floor
*
The fig tree and I are both immigrants
From lands that are sunny and bright
Though fig did not come here willingly
While I chose this country so white
*
But fig will be sheltered this winter
Protected and ready to bear
While I slip and slide on the sidewalk
And try to pretend I’ve no fear.
Original Photos by Hamlin Grange
Cynthia Reyes 
Lovely poem. I just can’t quite get over the fact that you have access to figs right off the tree! Must be heaven. 🙂
I know! Me too. we got three crops one year. The first baby figs (‘figlets’?) started to grow when they were underground. Go figure…..
Cynthia, this is super-cool (the poem and the concept 😉 I actually turned a few verses into a little song- I bet I could play that for you on the ukuele ‘-) But on another note: really, do you just bend the whole tree over and dig a trench to bury it? Or do you just cover it up? I love the idea of you having a fig tree here in the great white north and that it makes it through these winters.Lovely!
Well, I always stay far from the heavy lifting, as you can imagine, but – I spy with my little eye — that my favorite gardener digs up (and sometimes has to also cut) the roots. He buries the whole thing, though some people bend the tree right down, having cut the outer roots, then cover it completely.
Now, important to prune it first, and tie the branches close to the trunk, as the trench he digs is quite narrow and only about 18 inches deep.
Also, must dig tree up in May soon as frost is passed – or the fruit and leaves may start growing underground – they did that one year. I would LOVE to hear your song on the Ukelele!!
I was wondering how you cover up a fig tree and now I know! Wow! Figs right off the tree! I love your poem – it’s full of bounces, rhymes and rhythm. O would make a great song! Lee
Lee – what a lovely comment.
And “bounces, rhymes and rhythm – I like the sound of that.
I’ll have to think of a tune that could accompany it.