Mission Fig LbNA #40836 (ARCHIVED)
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Add Location| Owner: | Parfum Sacre  |
|---|---|
| Plant date: | Jun 12, 2008 |
| Location: | |
| City: | Tucson Downtown |
| County: | Pima |
| State: | Arizona |
| Boxes: | 1 |
| Found by: | Baqash |
|---|---|
| Last found: | Nov 6, 2008 |
| Status: | FFF |
| Last edited: | Jun 12, 2008 |
The Spanish padres carried cuttings of sweet black Spanish figs with them when they came to the New World, and established fig trees in the mission gardens, including Tucson's long gone Misión de San Agustín del Tucsón. The Carillo family, one of Tucson’s pioneering families, took a cutting from an old Spanish fig tree in the Mission garden in 1881 planted it in the back courtyard of their home, which is now a museum. The tree thrives today, producing two crops of delicious figs a year, one in early June and a second in mid July. It is a direct descendant of the trees brought from Spain in the 1500s. The Carillo family loved to share the figs with neighbors, and you’re welcome to enjoy them if you come when the tree is fruiting.
Taste a bit of history when you visit during fig season!
Every spring the Museum sells rooted cuttings of this tree, so you can continue the story in your garden at home.
The Museum also sells a little fig cookbook, but this is my favorite fig recipe:
Sephardic Preserved Figs
2 pounds of fresh figs
2 pounds sugar
Zest and Juice of 2 lemons
At least a cup of toasted walnuts (careful when toasting them, they burn quickly!)
2 TBSP anise seed
2 bay leaves
Cut the figs vertically in half and pour the sugar over them. Let them sit overnight.
Combine everything in a pan over medium-high heat and cook for 10-15 minutes. Put them in jelly jars.
This was traditionally served in little silver spoons with ice water of strong coffee, but it’s good on toast too.
Oh, yeah, the letterbox! I get distracted easily when it comes to food.
The Sosa-Carillo-Fremont House is open Wednesday-Saturday, 10AM-4PM. The first Saturday of the month (and every day for kids under 12) the museum is free, but other days there is an admission fee of $2 for students and seniors and $3 for adults. It’s worth it!
Back in the walled courtyard, behold the beautiful fig tree, and think about all the happy family times under this tree before the Urban Renewal leveled the old Barrio in 1968 and sent its longtime inhabitants into public housing projects, dislocating a culturally vibrant community and destroying much of Tucson’s architectural legacy.
There is a little bower with a bench under a Lady Bank’s rose in the south corner. Look at the base of the rosebush, under rocks and plant debris.
This box has room for a HH.
I always enjoy hearing from you. Please let me know if this box needs attention, and record your find at www.letterboxing.org/ or at www.atlasquest.com/
Have fun out there!
Taste a bit of history when you visit during fig season!
Every spring the Museum sells rooted cuttings of this tree, so you can continue the story in your garden at home.
The Museum also sells a little fig cookbook, but this is my favorite fig recipe:
Sephardic Preserved Figs
2 pounds of fresh figs
2 pounds sugar
Zest and Juice of 2 lemons
At least a cup of toasted walnuts (careful when toasting them, they burn quickly!)
2 TBSP anise seed
2 bay leaves
Cut the figs vertically in half and pour the sugar over them. Let them sit overnight.
Combine everything in a pan over medium-high heat and cook for 10-15 minutes. Put them in jelly jars.
This was traditionally served in little silver spoons with ice water of strong coffee, but it’s good on toast too.
Oh, yeah, the letterbox! I get distracted easily when it comes to food.
The Sosa-Carillo-Fremont House is open Wednesday-Saturday, 10AM-4PM. The first Saturday of the month (and every day for kids under 12) the museum is free, but other days there is an admission fee of $2 for students and seniors and $3 for adults. It’s worth it!
Back in the walled courtyard, behold the beautiful fig tree, and think about all the happy family times under this tree before the Urban Renewal leveled the old Barrio in 1968 and sent its longtime inhabitants into public housing projects, dislocating a culturally vibrant community and destroying much of Tucson’s architectural legacy.
There is a little bower with a bench under a Lady Bank’s rose in the south corner. Look at the base of the rosebush, under rocks and plant debris.
This box has room for a HH.
I always enjoy hearing from you. Please let me know if this box needs attention, and record your find at www.letterboxing.org/ or at www.atlasquest.com/
Have fun out there!