Jean-Talon market in Montreal

The Jean-Talon market is a great place to visit all year round. During the summer, you can find fresh products and even fig trees. However, the price for a fig tree is exorbitant. In average, the price of a small fig tree is 65$ and 200$ for a big one. On my last visit at the end of June 2009, not a single salesman knew what kind of varieties they were selling. The only thing they could tell is the color of the figs produced by the trees...

Dominique and Rosa in Montreal

I met Dominique and Rosa in early July 2009 at their home in the N.D.G. area of Montreal. As they told me, figs have always been in their family since they arrived in the early 1950's to Montreal from Italy. Each year when winter arrives, they tie up the branches, dig a trench and push the tree into the pit. Once this is done, they cover it with peat moss and then they add soil on top of it. In recent years, their sons have been helping them since Dominique is unfortunately unable to do this anymore. They told me that all this trouble was worth it since they always enjoy eating the fresh white figs produced by their tree.

Westmount Greek ''vine'' fig

I found this fig tree in the Westmount area of Montreal in May 2009. The owner received it in 1994 from a Greek labourer working for his company. Since 1994 he has been keeping the tree in his basement and when spring arrives he moves it outside in the hopes of enjoying the delicious green figs produced by this tree. The tree has the particularity to grow like a ''vine''. However, the reason for growing in such a way might be related to the fact that it starts new growth while it is stored in a dark area of the basement.