Nice article, Trying to figure out how I can expense a trip while in pursuit of some long forgotten cultivar ;)

http://www.bridgepugliausa.it/articolo.asp?id_sez=1&id_cat=33&id_art=3618&lingua=en

Mount a charter tour.

Good luck to you!  Everything about Greece, Italy, Istanbul, and Spain reminded me of Southern California when we traveled there.  So many like things!  Amazing!  Those pictures reminded me of so many rock walls, buildings, and scenes here.  Even the Opuntia nice and green when the figs were dormant........

I guess that's why I loved that part of Europe the most!!  Reminds me of home.  California was settled by the Spanish, and thus the Mediterranean architecture so often found here. 

I hope you figure out a tour!

Suzi

Really enjoyed the article and pictures. Thanks for posting.

Very nice article and photos!    I really enjoy seeing the "rare" articles and photos about the fig trees overseas.

Thanks!

Ingevald

A wonderful story and beautiful photo montage.  Look closely at the conditions where these figs thrive.  Dry, sun-baked, rocky soils, windy...etc.  Very different than most of our cultivation ideas.  Maybe when we grow our trees too soft, we invite diseases and other problems?????

Just speculation.


Frank

I loved the story and pictures , thanks for that .
I too thought that sometimes the more I fuss, the worse it gets ! My outdoor gardening mantra has always been survival of the fittest !

Hi all, glad you enjoyed the article! I have been lucky enough to have traveled to Italy several times, mostly to the Sienna province. Seeing pictures like those contained in the article and reading about Apuglia and the other two provinces that make up the "heel and toe" of the boot of Italy make me yearn to get there. A place where extreme poverty meets with great agricultural abundance always seems to make for a stripped down, raw cultural and culinary experience.

Musillid, I'll get right on that :)

Interesting thank you for sharing !

AUSTIN ,

s.e. Nebraska zone 5

How's your italian? Or maybe google translate will help... Check out this site farm foundation dedicated to preserving the great ancient fig culture of Puglia

http://www.pomonaonlus.it

Great stuff.
the figs planted with the prickly pear and the arched stone cover remind me alot of the sites i see here too.
the combination with the sea view made me of a vecation.

found this also: http://www.fondazioneterradotranto.it/2012/09/22/fichi-di-puglia-storia-paesaggi-cucina-e-conservazione-del-fico-in-puglia/

Nicely written article.

I seen and said same thing FMD,,,  My cousin she lives in Lecce,Puglia, in large villa,, although we are not Pugliese, we are Abruzzese,, They have no poverty, there is always food on the table! As long as you can eat good food and have good wine and family and friends,, there is none poverty! Thank you for wonderful pics,,, bring good memories!!

Frank, Maggie, I couldn't agree with you more. Sadly, I have read that there are no more donkeys with wooden saddles, no more community ovens where all the nonnas and other women of the village bring their breads and casseroles, no more old farmers pulling up to the squares in their ape selling watermelons, figs and squash blossoms while smoking in the shade. They all have been replaced by the modern convenience of mobile food vendors whose motorized stalls sides pop open selling food that they have no connection to.

I am in love with the historical context of what I knew your culture to be. To have the connection to the who and where things were grown and the appreciation of the knowledge, hard work and care that a farmer put into his crops.

I did not mean it as a slight to the Pugliese, but as a compliment. Maggie is right, who needs wealth when all of natures abundance are right out your doorstep and good neighbors are just around the corner?

So please, know that I love your homeland and appreciate the things that have made it unique to this world.

ZappalsAlive,, Obviously you love Italy! Those aspects of the culture are very much alive and well and continue. Yes, there is much modern, but we never give up too much of the old. All you have said are still found everywhere,, maybe not so much in the Large tourist cities but the towns and countryside and smaller villages yes!! I know in our hometown, we have never seen a mobile vendor. I don't believe the people would trust it! Mules and donkeys are still helpful, why pay for something modern if the old still works,, My Uncle always say that!! HA For this experience you want, you are in the right area. Go to the small towns and stay away from tourisim. My region (Abruzzi) is still untouched and unspoiled by tourism. Things there are much like they have always been with some modern twists, we don't wash clothes in a creek or stream anymore, washers took care of that! Market is still alive and produce is always fresh and local. Old ways and customs are still respected and revered Highly! The South, IL SUD,,, Abruzzi, Molise, Puglia, Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, and Sicily, all this that you love is still there, not going anywhere, just rent a car and leave the big tourist cities, you will find it quick! Check locally the Large market days when you are there, ask the people! Take a walk through the countryside and look at all the locally grown produce and different types of fruit trees and things that grow! Again, thanks so much for sharing this, it is a good way to make someone homesick!! HA

Ciao Maggie, piacere di conoscerti in questo forum estraordinario.

3 years ago my wife and I spent two weeks in Calabria living as much as possible like the locals. We shopped at small food  markets, cooked with local ingredients, frequented trattorias where the locals ate, went into the countryside where we picked figs off the trees, grapes off the vine and prickly pears from rugged hillsides. We wanted to absorb the  essence of Calabria and how Calabrians live on a daily basis rather than do the ugly touristy thing. What a deeply emotional and unforgettable experience it was.
We did not see many donkeys or donkey carts except on working farms as the modernization of the South is pretty much a fait accompli. Unfortunately, modernization also included the ubiquitous cell phone implanted in everyone's ear and a certain quickening of the pace of daily living.
One other unfortunate and unmistakable change was the rampant obesity among school aged kids. I was very disheartened to see that occur.

FMD,, E voi!!  Yes, my Aunt OLD, still uses her little donkey to help her carry coffee and packages up the steep steps to her home,, she goes out every day and picks up after his dropping on the steps, I love it!! Also so many of the young help her even when donkey is carrying. I like that they still help her I think just to talk with her as well and she gives them food when they arrive at her house. The respect for the elders and old is so beautiful. Cell phones I hate. They are problems but they are to be turned off during family times and eating and socializing. If it is turned on at the wrong times, it is thrown in the well. Too bad! Thanks for sharing your wife and your nice trip together. Yes, I should think one should return if possible at least once a year if not more.