Fostering Figs and Faith

DEBORAH PRATT | Life Assurance Ministries’ Online Moderator |

In late spring here in Michigan, I was perusing Facebook’s Marketplace for some odd item, and a post for fig trees showed up in my random listings. Fig trees!! In Michigan?? I had come to a love of figs when I lived in Italy in my early 20s, where there was a fig tree on one of my walking routes into the town center that, in a snapshot memory, was loaded with figs and at least 25 feet tall. But in Michigan, where it gets too cold for fig trees to survive the winter (I thought), I could only find fresh figs twice in the last 30 years at a store near me because they are so fragile and spoil quickly when shipped. I was delighted that I might be able to taste those fresh delicacies again!

In a clear act of leaping before I looked, I became the proud owner of four small, potted fig trees. The seller (only a mile from me) said all I needed to do was water them with a bottle of water daily because we were in the midst of a heat/humidity wave. He kindly brought one that already had sprouted a fig. Within a week, that particular plant had nine figs on it! Because of the continuing heat/humidity wave, I continued to diligently water them each day. 

Then I noticed leaves that looked funny. “What’s this?” I wondered, now concerned for the health of my trees. There was a fig forum online with a lot of activity, and clearly many there knew a lot about fig trees; I admitted my novice standing and asked what the members thought about my fig leaves. “Rust,” many of them said. Some said, “Clip off all the bad leaves so it doesn’t spread.” Some said, “It’s common in areas with high temps and humidity, so don’t worry about it.” Then many others volunteered their assessments, some with very condescending attitudes toward novices. Who knew a fig tree could have so many ailments?! And, many of the members disagreed with each other, sometimes disagreeably and even snarkily. Then members began offering recommendations for products to treat this “rust.” Who knew there were so many products out there for fig trees?! Then I saw under each member’s post a list of fig tree varieties they owned plus the varieties they wanted. And each variety needed its own type of care.

I had not gotten four potted fig trees; I had four potted investments. And they had to be brought into my garage every fall when they went dormant due to the cold temperatures we have in Michigan.

Oh, no….  I had not gotten four potted fig trees; I had four potted investments. And they had to be brought into my garage every fall when they went dormant due to the cold temperatures we have in Michigan. I had not known there were cold hardy fig varieties that could be planted in the ground, but now I did. These would likely survive the southwestern Michigan winters once they were established, if I wrapped them for the first couple of years. I rolled my eyes at myself and ended up with two young trees planted in my back yard (good way to support the Arbor Day Foundation, I thought). What’s the saying – “in for a penny, in for a pound”?

Feeding My Figs

I learned that sometimes, in places like Wisconsin where there are cold extremes, some fig tree owners who had brought their own trees from Italy in the early 20^th century had continued to propagate them, protecting them for the winter by digging trenches and carefully bending the trees over into them, where they covered them with soil and mulch, only to uncover and right them in the spring. I thought, “Wow, that’s a labor of love, for sure.” 

As the summer progressed, I still had unripened figs, and the leaves on my potted plants seemed to be failing to thrive. Some leaves were rusty-colored, some were spotted, some curled into weird shapes, and some just fell off. A few figs that had sprouted on another potted tree stayed small and green, then fell off.  It was clear I needed more knowledgeable help.

It had been so frustrating to find so many supposed “experts” who all disagreed about fig care, but I finally discovered a goldmine in a person who wrote periodic articles on fig care and was experienced, practiced, and welcoming to new fig growers with her information. It was not obvious to me even what growing medium my fig pots used, which turned out to be a critical element. 

Figs in pots are best served by a soilless potting medium which allows very good drainage and no organic material that can rot roots. That meant that I was responsible for providing adequate feeding and watering, and that the trees themselves could help me know what they needed based on how they were growing. (I know for some very green thumbs, this might be readily apparent, but I was used to growing potted things in Miracle-Gro^R, and all the “experts” avoided that like the plague.) No one-size-fits-all fixes here….  So they only could absorb what I gave them. And my new fig owner friend had a seasonal feeding chart that addressed the main stages of growth and fruit production! Finally, something clear, scientific, and organized!

I began to follow my new friend’s advice, and while I still ended up with unripened figs as of this writing (and our first cold, snowy severe weather snap which means pots going into the garage very soon), the trees themselves began to respond to proper care. In fact, as they are properly fed and watered, they have all the nutrients they need to transport the nutrients ripening fruit needs, instead of fighting nutrient deficiencies and opportunistic diseases and pests these nutrient weaknesses foster. My friend’s feeding chart helped me know what to give my trees now so that spring will find them hardy and healthy from the outset.  

Biblical Figs

I have been a little surprised since starting to keep figs (hmm…that word “keep” comes naturally to this endeavor) at how often some of the Bible’s references to figs and fig trees come to mind, and how often caring for these trees parallels the born-again walk of faith. There were clearly other trees in the garden of Eden (the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and the tree of Life are explicitly mentioned), but fig trees seem to be the first mentioned in Genesis in the Hebrew by its genus and fruit, as Adam and Eve used fig leaves to cover themselves after they sinned and knew they were naked. While there are many species of ficus, the Genesis references appear to name the fruit-bearing type. 

In the NASB95, there are 43 references to figs or fig trees, from Genesis to Revelation. In many of the Old Testament references, fig trees are signs of peace, safety, and prosperity, along with grapevines, pomegranate trees, and olive trees; their fruitful presence or destruction and dearth are closely tied to either the blessing, or chastisement, of Israel by our covenant-keeping God. 

Jesus used fig trees in several teachings. He spoke of the fig tree portending the coming summer in Matthew 24:32-35 (NASB) when he described a fig trees twigs becoming tender and putting forth leaves; in the same way, signs will be evident to point to Jesus’ soon return.  

Jesus used fig trees in several teachings. He spoke of the fig tree portending the coming summer… in the same way, signs will be evident to point to Jesus’ soon return.

We have the somewhat difficult-to-understand lesson of the fig tree, recorded for us in Mark 11:13-21, that Jesus commanded to wither because it had no figs on it, “though it was not the season for figs”, as Mark explicitly states. Some light is shed on this passage in an article titled “The Barren Fig Tree”, written by W. M. Christie, a Church of Scotland minister, who lived in what was British Palestine at the time. Christie noted that this incident would have taken place in the week between the Triumphal Entry and Jesus’ crucifixion, early April that year; Mark notes that this took place the day after the Triumphal Entry, upon the disciples and Jesus returning to Jerusalem from Bethany. 

Mark writes of Jesus, “ And seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs.”¹ According to Christie, when fruitful fig trees begin leafing out in the spring, there are often breba (or taqsh in Palestinian Arabic) sprouted next to the leaf stems. These are typically fruits that set bud in the previous season (I learned that!) and develop as the tree leafs out but drop off as the main fig crop comes into growth. At the point when the main crop is filling out and ripening, the leaves are fully present.

Christie notes that these taqsh are precursors to the main fig crop, and they are an early source of lower-quality and smaller fig fruit commonly consumed by “peasants and others when hungry.” The presence of taqsh signifies that a true fig crop is coming, that the tree will indeed be fruitful. To find a fully leafed-out fig tree with “nothing but leaves,” not even taqsh, meant there would be no fruit at all on that tree. 

In addition, if it was not yet the time for figs to be matured and harvested, they would still be present and not yet ripe, and the fully leafed-out tree should at least, at that time of the year, have had an unharvested crop on it, yet there was nothing at all. At first, it might seem capricious that Jesus would curse the fig tree, but it was clearly an object lesson to those who were with him.

We also have the parable in Luke 13, starting with verse 6, in which a man expected and looked for three years for fruit on a fig tree planted in his vineyard. He instructed his vineyard-keeper to cut it down since it hadn’t produced during all that time, but the vineyard-keeper asked for one more year, while he tilled around and fertilized it. It would be cut down if it still didn’t produce. 

As Christie noted, it is difficult in these parables to “avoid the conclusion that the fig tree represents the city of Jerusalem, unresponsive to Jesus as he came to it with the message of God, and thereby incurring destruction.” Even when the nation had the presence of the incarnate Christ, promised from the very beginning and whose coming foretold permeated the Old Testament, they did not recognize the time of their visitation (Luke 19:41-44 NASB). Matthew 23:37 (NASB) recounts Jesus’ sorrow over Jerusalem’s willful ignorance: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!²

Food and Care Produce Fruit

In my own fig tree journey, I have three trees that, over the summer, showed either hearty fruit production (though only two ripened) or at least the hint that there could be fruit, and one that has had no hint of a promise of fruit, not even taqsh. In the forums I read, there were endless queries about someone’s trees that were several years old but that had no fruit, not even taqsh/breba, or their trees had immature fruit which dropped off before ripening. The answers dealt to a great extent with focused, consistent feeding and watering schedules. Most fig tree growers offering advice seemed to want to put the effort into turning a tree around into a productive one, rather than eliminating it. (Interestingly, nutrition can be turned around pretty quickly, especially in potted figs, though maybe not in time for this year’s crop.)

Looking out onto my back porch, I see my poor potted fig trees, with rugs wrapping their pots, shouldering eight inches of heavy, wet snow. But now I know what they need!  I have learned that my fig trees will not produce any fruit for me unless they are properly fed, watered, and even pruned if necessary. Much like grapevines, proper pruning puts nutrients into fruit production rather than just leaves. Fruit may start, but the care has to be consistent and at the right stages of growth, or the fruit will stay hard and green or even fall off. It will not mature if it does not abide, staying attached to the branch, and it will only do that if properly attended. No matter what all the conflicting opinions are out there in fig-world, the basics are still crucial, and I have a kind, knowledgeable fig-friend, for whom I am grateful.

Like fig trees that only produce sweet, juicy figs if they get their needs met, if I want to be a fruitful, born-again believer, I have to stay attached to the branch, who is Christ,

Like fig trees that only produce sweet, juicy figs if they get their needs met, if I want to be a fruitful, born-again believer, I have to stay attached to the branch, who is Christ, and be grown up and matured by the Holy Spirit, who continues to teach me and soften my heart. Staying attached to the branch means that the Lord will nourish and sustain me and not leave me malnourished, struggling, and weak. When I am born again, He also prunes—teaching me what I need to know from His Word, as well as training me into the shape He wants. Sometimes He removes the dead wood of false beliefs or sucker shoots of misbeliefs that get me off track, but it’s all for what He knows is best for me and to His glory. 

Paul reminds the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 3:6-7, “ I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.”³ I fully believe that, in the body of Christ, we feed and drink in tandem with the Holy Spirit, but God gives the growth, to each of us as He knows we need, for us to be fruitful members, then able to share our fruit with others. †

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Endnotes

1 The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Mk 11:13.

² Retrieved from https://www.ivpress.com/Contents/Item/Display/28218?srsltid=AfmBOorhDS3uRBBPCT8wHBg 2TDIPKWiUZC4o7QSXC6o09XzNZ0SMi7CZ

3 The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Mt 23:37.