Ode to Mold
Pink mold, yellow mold,
black and gray.
White fungus, gray fungus
What the hey?
Bleaching those cutting,
Seems not to prevent.
Mold comes back,
A sad event!
To Root or Not to Root
Perlite, vermiculite
Mixture so fine,
Time to plant
Fig cuttings of mine.Not too wet,
Not too dry,
Find that balance!
Makes me sigh.Good humidity?
Good drainage and heat
Encourages nodes
To root, that’s sweet!Will they grow?
Will rot take hold?
Mold and fungus
So invasive, so bold.Will they survive
This attempt of mine
To create a mighty tree
Of figs divine?It’s been a whole day!
I await, bated breath
Where’re those roots?
I’m worried to death!Sue
The Black Madeira
From the Azores Islands my grandparents hail.
As farmers they settled, fruit trees did they grow.
Peaches, and pears, figs, apples and grapes.
Nirvana existed, was too young to know.So, a collection of Portuguese figs I desire!
Bagalhouce, Lampeira, Capelas and Rei,
The Dark Port cutting is alive I see!
And Barnachote, a Pingo de Mel or three.The one that eludes this collection of mine
The Black Madeira, a fig so fine.
From the Portuguese island of Madeira she hails,
The queen of figs, all others pale.Her dark sensuous skin so purple, so fine
Her inner beauty, of red pulp, divine!
In sweetness and taste of figs that exist,
she’s at the top of everyone’s list.Coveted by many but fickle at best
She’s hard to grow, your patients to test.
New trees to create from cuttings grow slow
Most don’t make it to the gardener’s sorrow.She needs hot summers and seasons so long
To produce her magic, fabulous figs in the fall.
Of Portuguese descent, our heritage entwine
I need this fig to add to my line!Sue