Fig

The fig tree needs no one to water it: it stands heat, poor soils and dry summers, and in Almería it grows by the cortijos, on the terrace walls and in the ramblas, wherever it finds a little hidden moisture. A provincial archive on organic farming places it among the traditional crops of the Almerian Alpujarra — a territory that includes Alhama — with no municipal figures and no commercial speciality: it belongs to the landscape before it belongs to agriculture.

Agronomic literature distinguishes biferous fig trees — the brevales, which give two seasons: brevas, large and early, in June and July, and figs, smaller and sweeter, from August to September — from uniferous ones, with a single harvest. Colour alone does not identify a variety: depending on type and ripeness, the skin may stay green, turn purple or nearly black; the ripe fruit is delicate, sometimes lightly split, with dense, glossy flesh.

So the fig is told here as a fruit of season and family growing, not as an export production with figures. Brevas are the most sought-after at market for their size and their timing; figs are the favourites for a snack with bread or a cheese plate.