Just wondering if your children have, or share, any of your interest in growing fig trees?  Do you think and hope your enthusiasm has been passed to your heirs?

Frank

there is some interest. but nothing definite? i mean my younger one wants a tree, so i gave him one of the VdB to look after. he take a look at it once in awhile.

few of the kids at cub scout still have the cuttings i gave to them, but only one really shows interest. that's 8 kids i gave out the cuttings to.

i told them if they want more i'll give them another set of cuttings coming spring. not many jumped up and down.

pete

Pete....

If others chime in, I will bet this story will be repeated.  Passing interests, at best.

Years ago, when I first became serious about growing plants as a hobby, I joined all sorts of clubs and societies, one in particular involved growing orchids.  I was still relatively young, and when I showed up at the meetings, I quickly realized that most of the members of these clubs were around when fire was discovered.  No one my age, and also very clique-ish..I went off and did my own thing ever since.

It's a shame...but that's the way it goes.

Frank

My 4yr old son is the other other person in my imediate family that likes figs.  He loves to help watering and repotting my lone tree.  He does have his eyes on the prive though.  All winter he was asking if we could check the neighbors tree to see if it had any figs on it yet.

Frank,
 Sorry you had bad experiences with Horticultural groups, but there are some as you described. I belong to a couple here in Philly and we do our best to foster interest in young kids. My youngest son goes to meetings with me and he really enjoys himself. I've exposed all of my kids to horticulture, but only my youngest seems genuinely interested. Kids have so many other things to draw their interest today, so it is great if they have the opportunities to grow their own stuff, but sadly very few stick with it. All you can do is try.

Yes, all we could do is try.  I'm glad that you could get to share some quality time with your son.

I really was just curious about the whole fig growing hobby.  I'm sure that maybe later in their lives, they might remember what we teach them now, and some dormant interest might rise to the surface.  Who knows.

Just a few years before I hit my teen years, my father and I used to shop in a very old area in lower Manhattan, west of City Hall, in fact exactly where the old Twin Towers once stood.  In those days, the area was saturated with World War ll surplus stores, hardware stores, stores selling electronics, motors, wire, magnets...the list goes on and on.  I saved my "allowance money",  and always came home with some treasures.  It was a haven for bargain hunters, and men who were not afraid to use their hands to build things...a tinker's paradise.  All those stores were razed in the early 60s, and the Towers went up in their place.  The whole area, sadly, was gone forever.

The shopping bug is still in me to this day.  I spend many happy, relaxing hours hunting for treasures in scrap yards, garage sales, flea markets, etc.  My father passed the whole shopping thing to me, and I still do it.  Maybe our  fig thing will still show up in our kids as they get a little older.  Like I said,...who knows?

Frank

Right now my four-year-old is one of those fussy eater types and won't try a fig. I've gotten him to eat strawberries and raspberries in the yard, though so I live in hope. He does enjoy tagging along in the garden and snatching any bugs I happen to unearth, at least.

one thing my father loved to do was ice skating. he used to play ice hockey in high school. back when he was younger, he was amazing on the ice. he tried so hard to teach me how to skate. well.. i never liked it back then. it was always cold and wet. the outdoor rinks..

then in grad school, for whatever reason, i wanted to learn. so i took whole year learning how to skate. busted my knees over and over.. but i can say now i know how to skate thanks to my dad who showed me all about skating when i was  younger.

now.. only if i can have my kids interested in playing bagpipes..

pete

I don't have children yet, but I plan to teach them how to grow stuff and play bagpipes when I do. I can speak personally that I spent some very happy and rewarding hours visiting my Grandmother and my Aunt Joan at their greenhouse business. The greenhouses were things of wonder. The plants were amazing. I remember one time they gave me a widows tears, I think. I rooted it and used it to make about twenty more. There have been a lot of times in my life when I had no plants, but I always come back to growing plants or gardening. So I really think that it does stick. When you expose a child to positive things it plants a little kernel of interest. It may not grow immediately, and it may also grow and go dormant, but at some time, I believe that it will grow again. It did with  me.

If you can find fun things for them to grow that helps a lot. My son and I planted cotton this spring. And I've givne him Mimosa pudica the sensitive plant that folds up it's leaves when you touch it. Grow a carrot top or potato, or a mango pit anything that will pek their interest. String beans are good relatively fast to produce.  

Love to read about your children.  Kids learn from imitation, so maybe when you are old and grey, your kids will hand you a plate of ripe figs from the trees you are growing now.



The bagpipes might be a tougher "sell".  : )

Frank

My dad was always and forever propagating things.  His mom, my grandmother, was part Indian and always grew things.  My other grandma, had several fruit trees, including a fig, but her daughter, my mom had no interest.  I seem to have inherited his love for growing many plants and fruit bearing trees of all kinds.  I like a variety of figs, olives, wine grapes, pomegranates, blueberries, blackberries, tropicals, and love to try to make NEW varieties.  My oldest son caught the "bug," but the rest of my kids have no interest.  Maybe a grand kid or two might get interested, and only time will tell.
Suzi

I second BLB's comments about growing something interesting and fun for kids. I don't really care if my kids grow up to be fig nuts (they do eat them as fast as they ripen) but I expect them to grow up with a love of gardening. For so many kids there is a complete lack of outdoor/gardening experience. My plan is to get them hooked on quality fresh picked fruit and then they will have no choice but to grow their own. :)

It is a good plan, James. My son loves scouring our strawberry and raspberry patches for the ripe ones. It's like a little treasure hunt.

This pattern shows in my family a bit.  My dad enjoyed growing figs, and I'm a "child" who caught the interest.  Other siblings showed some interest along the way, but one brother and I seem most interested (and actually grow them ourselves).  One of my sons shows some interest... he's 15.  My dad gave him a couple of trees 2 years ago, and it's something we can do together, at least a little bit.  (Remember, he's 15... there's only so much that a 15 year old is interested to do with his dad, even a respectful boy like my son).  But he's quite interested in growing things... has his own vegetable garden and spends a lot of time researching it, and he writes his experiences in a garden journal. 

It is pretty late, or early, this season for peas, but "Gonzo" from Johnny's is just about as fast and fun as it gets. Things that grow underground are fun too, kids love to dig stuff up.

My Grandma used to grow a giant sunflower every year and I swear it was 20 ft. tall.
 
edit: Johnny's is no longer carrying them. I grow them for the shoots, they have really large tendrils that are also good to eat.

I grew up next to my grandfather - we had connecting backyards, and an aunt on the other side of grandpa's who's yard was connected t his also.  He maintained 3 gardens!  His own was the largest, my aunts was a good size and ours was the smallest - about 20x20 AND it had the fig tree!!!!

I was about 7 or 8 when I wanted to help grandpa and grow something myself. He cleared a little space where the grapevine grew and I planted potatoes with the "eyes" supplied from mom.  They grew to everyone's surprise and we had potatoes also! 

I helped him for several years, he let me have a space in our garden and I grew corn one year - imagine that, corn in an italians garden!!

He had a stroke when I was about 12 or so and he couldn't work in the garden anymore.  My uncle to over but he wasn't grandpa.

Over the years I have always had something growing - various houseplants, bonsai trees, my newest additions are 3 orchids (tried years ago and loved them to death with water!!), and now I have my own garden and fig tree!

I think with children you have to expose them and see if there is any interest - plant the seed.  If there is interest (germination) then cultivate and feed it.

It was very interesting to read all the comments and anecdotes posted on this topic.

I could see that your interests for growing plants has come from prior experiences, usually from early childhood.  Nice to read that some family member introduced you to gardening, and nurturing plants.

Last line in JoAnn's message sums it up perfectly.

Thanks for the postings.

Frank