Little Figlets!

I wander around in the gardens every day as it gives me plenty of time to ponder the mysteries of the world. Not that I ever solve any of these enigmas but at least I think about them! And I must say that all these are "earth-shaking" conundrums that rattle the brain and if I do not ponder them...who will??? One of those all-important mysteries popped in the brain today and it kept me quite entertained for the duration of my hike. As I passed the fig trees, I noticed that there were hundreds of tiny figs already setting on the branches. This made me smile as I hope we get a good crop this year. The trees are still relatively young and to see such a goodly number of fruits delighted me. Now the puzzlement....just what are these small figs called?

A picture of Mama Pig and her piglets sent to me by my great-nephew, Jonathan Adams.

At first, I thought of calling them just "figs" but somehow that just did not seem to be accurate. This would almost be like calling a baby by an adult name. I pondered. Now if the English language made any sense at all, it would be most easy to come up with the answer....figlet! The reasoning...fig rhymes with pig and little pigs are called piglets, therefore a little fig should be a figlet! This reasoning led to other things. Take a goose for instance..the plural is geese..the baby is a gosling. Now the trouble with that is that goose rhymes with moose but you sure never hear of bunch of meese or a baby mosling! Something is far wrong with this language! There are just far too many inconsistencies with the simple words! House..mouse...houses..mice? Nope..just doesn't make any sense whatsoever!

Back to the figs however..two of the trees seem to be loaded with the fruits. These are the two that are in one of the vegetable gardens themselves. The other three trees are still extremely small. I am wondering just why their growth seems to be stunted. I have fertilized them the same as the two larger trees but they are just not doing as well. Last fall, my Uncle Alfred gave me a bit of advice pertaining to the raising of fig trees and I intend to follow that advice in the morning. He advised me to put some oyster shells around the base of the trees! At the time he told me this, I did not have access to any shells but Mark opened a couple of sacks of oysters a few months back. Now..these shells will be placed around the trees with another bunch of fertilizer. I think the shells might provide calcium as they deteriorate and perhaps that is just what my trees need! It is always nice to have someone with a bit of experience pass on a few of their secrets! Thank you, Uncle Alfred!

Now back to my conundrum.....piglets..figlets...yep! I do believe I like figlets! It has a nice ring to it and conjures up images of tiny little figs in wee baby bonnets! Oh...that imagination of mine!