Signs of Spring

Since I've been complaining about winter, I want to tell you that spring is coming, well at least in my hallway. You can see my fig tree has leaves and several figs, it is responding to the longer days.

Squirrel 0 Jennifer 12

This year I am winning. My fig tree is not beautiful, but it is productive. Every winter I wonder if it is worth the effort of dragging it into the apartment and down the stairwell to the landing which is the coolest darkest spot we have. The tree is only about 1.5 metres tall however, the pot is big and heavy and manhandling it down the stairs isn't easy. We have to walk around it all winter then drag it back outside in the spring. Yet every year the tree rewards our efforts by producing lots of figs.

Summer time and summer dreams

Yes I know it's not officially spring yet, but we have switched to summer time and the weather here is glorious. It's warm, 15 C and everyone has emerged onto the streets. Neighbours are cleaning up their gardens and we've even hauled our plants outside to give them some fresh air. The fig tree has woken up to the longer hours of sunlight and is sprouting leaves. It is still cool at night but if it stays above freezing we'll leave it, the bay trees, the olive and the lemon out on the deck. The forecast for the rest of the week is good, so all of us who are stuck in Toronto are not complaining. We're happy we didn't spend the money to fly to south for spring break.

Jennifer 16 - Squirrel still only 3

I am feeling quite smug. The remaining figs are very green and I doubt they will ripen by Thursday.
I've taken off the plastic so far the squirrel hasn't tried to steal another fig. Perhaps it was all the talk of sautéed squirrel brains?

Jennifer 9 Squirrel - still only 3

It seems to be working. I've harvested 4 more figs, so I am way ahead of the squirrel. I've even left my tree outside overnight as the weather has warmed back up to 19 C in the evening. September is always a wacky month for weather.
Now I am just covering one or two figs at a time with the plastic bag. While this leaves the rest of the figs exposed, they are so small, green and hard, that I doubt they will ripen and I am pretty sure they won't before the end of next week when we leave for Paris. I am hoping that if the rodent with a tail does manage to harvest a green one, it will give him such a belly ache that he'll never try again.

And for those of you thinking of eating or shooting squirrels you may want to read this or this.

Jennifer v's Squirrel

Those of you who read this blog regularly know that I have a fig tree. It doesn't grow much but it repays all the care we give it with a bounty of figs. This year there are another two dozen and with the cold, rainy summer we've had, they are big but are ripening slowly. The tree sits against the concrete wall of our building facing west to get the maximum dose of sunshine and heat. And while September has been beautiful, with warm sunny days, it is cool at night, down to 10C already.
I watch the figs turn deep purple and soften, then I pluck them. Our first harvest was two figs and there was another ripening.

A Perfect Day

Today is a perfect late summer day, clear blue sky, a crisp morning followed by an afternoon warm enough to sit outside. This weather reminds me of my arrival in Canada some 28 winters ago. The weather that September and well into October was just like today - perfect. I loved it. And like those first explorers, I too was fooled, lulled into a false sense of well-being which left me totally unprepared for winter to follow.
Let's just say growing up in Melbourne, Australia that I didn't really understand what -23C temperatures really meant or that the hairs in my nostrils could freeze solid as soon as I stepped outside. So, despite ordering two bush cords of firewood today, I am banishing all thoughts of winter from my mind and enjoying these last warm perfect days.
I am also trying to convince my fig tree that summer will last a few more weeks. As you see from this photo, it is only about a meter high but prolific. I have already eaten a dozen delicious figs and there are about another two dozen waiting to ripen, but I fear half of them won't make it. Those of you who live where figs are allowed to to rot on the ground should be feeling guilty.
I carefully nurture this 10 year old tree, it winters inside like me
and has an olive tree about the same height to keep it company. I thought I might even get two or three olives this year - but the blossoms didn't set, perhaps next year. I have a third plant to complete my Mediterranean trinity - a lemon tree. Every Christmas it rewards me with lemon blossom, wonderful as it winters in the bathroom and then lemons. Life in Toronto, even in deepest winter, is not all bad if you remind yourself like Goethe, that there is a land where lemon trees bloom.