THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, October 9, 1996 TAG: 9610080173
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: COASTAL JOURNAL
SOURCE: MARY REID BARROW
LENGTH: 94 lines
Willie Ermen, retired after 36 years with Norfolk Southern Corp., never was much of a gardener and certainly never entered the Virginia State Fair before.
But this year, Ermen not only carried his figs to the fair but won a blue ribbon, too.
The Bay Island resident has had a few fig trees in his yard for several years and they always have done well, bearing delicious, gigantic mahogany red fruits. Last year, he and his wife were in Richmond for the state fair and saw the fig entries there.
``That's what gave me the idea,'' Ermen said. ``My wife said, `Why don't you try? You can beat that!' ''
And that he did. He not only won a blue ribbon, but also $8 in prize money, which he donated to the State Fair of Virginia Scholarship Program.
Ermen's figs were the only fig entry in the Exhibitor's Choice - Fruits section, but that doesn't take away from the blue ribbon, explained 4-H Extension Agent Tom Baker. ``Ribbons are not awarded if they're not merited,'' Baker said. ``If they win an award, they are deemed worthy.''
Once he decided to enter the fair, Ermen worked hard to make sure he would have a worthy crop of figs this year. He said he talked to the figs every day and to keep the birds away, he covered them with several cast nets, which he usually uses to cast for minnows.
``I've been sitting under those trees since July!'' Ermen said.
Baker said that Ermen is a good example of how the state fair is for everybody. ``You don't have to be a kid in 4-H with a cow in the barn,'' he said, ``or a big-time farmer.''
What figs Ermen doesn't eat raw, he gives away to lucky neighbors or stews them up and keeps them in the refrigerator to eat for breakfast. First, he lets the figs sit for awhile, sprinkled with a cup or so of sugar and a few drops of lemon juice
``Then I cook them until they smell so good, I have to quit,'' he said.
If Ermen's tale has inspired you to get a fig tree, Horticulture Extension Agent Randy Jackson has a little advice - just a little, because figs are easy to grow.
Make sure the bush is planted in well-drained soil, gets plenty of moisture, and is well mulched, he said. Anytime is a good time to plant figs in this area, but most people plant from here on out in the dormant season.
This year's rainy summer made for a good fig year for folks who have well-drained soil. With so many figs, birds and squirrels were not as much of a problem either. ``This year we had plenty to share,'' Jackson said.
Figs are interesting because they don't have a flower like other fruits, noted Bertie Campbell of Churchland, who called after the last column on figs. Jackson explained that figs really did have flowers but they were nothing like the flowers that most of us imagine.
``Tiny organs that make up the flower are on the bottom end of the fruit opposite the stem end,'' Jackson said.
Although the fig varieties in this area are self pollinating, some that grow in other areas require a certain kind of wasp to actually crawl up into the end of the fruit to pollinate it, he added.
Campbell also noted that figs are mentioned throughout the Bible, going all the way back to Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve are said to have sewed fig leaves together to make aprons.
Campbell has a fig tree at her summer home on the Outer Banks. She has planted it in the sand near the outside shower where it gets water from the shower runoff. And it, too, did beautifully this year, she said, and is still bearing fruit.
Just thinking about it, my mouth is watering.
P.S. The first Southeastern Virginia Ecotourism Symposium will be held all day Saturday at the Virginia Marine Science Museum. Among the morning speakers is the editor of ``EcoTraveler'' magazine. Field trips follow in the afternoon. Admission is $25 and includes lunch and museum admission. To find out more, call 437-4919.
IT'S NATURAL TO VISIT VIRGINIA BEACH'' is the title of the city's new brochure featuring information on all the nature preserves in the area. Get a copy at the Virginia Beach Visitor Information Center.
ANTIQUES are the topic of a talk by former antique dealer Meyer Chovitz at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at historic Lynnhaven House. Admission is $4. Call 456-0351 for reservations.
CELEBRATE NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE WEEK on Sunday with a nature hike at 9 a.m., a bus tour at noon, sea turtle program at 2:30 p.m. or a wildlife photography walk at 3:30 p.m. at Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Call 721-2412 to make reservations. MEMO: What unusual nature have you seen this week? And what do you know
about Tidewater traditions and lore? Call me on INFOLINE, 640-5555.
Enter category 2290. Or, send a computer message to my Internet address:
mbarrow(AT)infi.net. ILLUSTRATION: Photos by Mary Reid Barrow
Willie Ermen says he talked to his blue-ribbon winning fig tree
every day and and to keep the birds away, he covered them with
several cast nets, which he usually uses to cast for minnows. by CNB