Minimalist photography is characterized by a large portion of negative space, a fairly monochromatic color palette with good contrast, and an interesting subject that is able to stand on its own to capture the interest of the viewer.
Behold! The bountiful harvest from this summer’s newly planted fig tree (ficus minimalist.)
Have a great weekend!
Barbara
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Mmmm, makes me think of those fig cookies I adore. Minimalism is great in web design too.
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Minimalism is good in a lot of things, I think.
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It think so too, and I am getting more and more aware of how freeing it can be to think that way!
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Haha. Makes me think of the dozen olives I got from two trees after seven years …
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COL! I feel better now….
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enjoy those minimal fresh figs. They will taste all the better for their sparsity.
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I will let you know when I’m in need of bountiful fig recipes!
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Mmmm. We had a fig tree when we lived in Spain. I would pick them and store them in port in kilner jars and then serve them with chilled cream. 🙂 Yours was a minimalist harvest though – a bit like our apple tree this year: 5, and two of those worm-eaten.
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Mmmmmm. Sandra, that sounds absolutely heavenly. Port, chilled cream…..mmmmm.
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You will have plenty in a few years.
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From your lips, Madam…..
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Haha! You crack me up. Hey, speaking of nuts . . . you should plant a pecan tree.
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Nancy, I have a most beautiful pecan tree just off my side porch. Probably my favorite tree on the property. It too is a minimalist. The black walnuts on the other hand…..
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Black Walnuts are a tough nut to crack . . . you need to run over them with a car . . . or take a sledgehammer to them.
Pecans are much better behaved.
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I hate them! You’re absolutely right, not to mention the beastly stains from whatever it is they exude, and I don’t really even like the flavor. Naturally, therefore, my harvest is the opposite of minimalist.
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I’m thinking you need to make up a BIG sign for the end of your driveway ~ FREE Black Walnuts! Then toss them into a basket and let motorists help themselves. 😛
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No. The country people out here would laugh maniacally….”Look at those Yankees trying to pawn off those black walnuts!”
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I can hear them snickering!
Someone in our neighborhood does offer FREE limes at harvest time. They are happily accepted for cocktails.
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I’m right into minimalist vegetable gardening. Minimal effort, minimal supply.
I think I might be doing it wrong.
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I like your way much better than mine though, H. Maximum effort, minimal supply is losing its appeal somehow.
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Any process that followed that standard would be short-lived in this house.
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Hmmmm, cut in half and wrap in prosciutto or grill lightly and drizzle with a bit of honey. Failing all else, eat plain and enjoy! 🙂
janet
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Prosciutto and figs are a match made in heaven. Agreed! With a little blue cheese….
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LOL – I think you nailed the theme!!
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Sadly, I agree!!
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Enjoy those tiny little figs. They are precious 🙂
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Hello Barbara, What an intriguing concept. The plate with only a few figs and no other garnish certainly evokes demand-minimalism, but you open up larger issues of supply-minimalism when you relate it back to the shyly-bearing fig tree. Since the tree should provide the larger supply of figs, symbolizing abundance, its barrenness suggests an overall dearth of figs, and nature withholding its bounty.
Now the question arises, can a photograph with complex, multiple meanings be considered minimal?
–Jim
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You’re over-thinking this, Jim!!! And making me laugh. Next year the wretched tree better perform to my expectations….although maybe it is behaving this way because it is anticipating the espalier treatment that looms in its future. What do you think?
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Hi again, Of course that analysis was not meant too seriously. Espalier training should in fact improve the yield in several ways, while creating an art-form of the tree itself, and engaging in a quite ancient and interesting activity, Be sure to show your progress here for us. –Jim
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You may remember that the fig is planted on the potting shed’s south-facing wall. Lots of white cinderblock to give it a good hot environment and the urge to produce more bountifully. Have a great weekend, Jim.
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Barbara, this is starkly dramatic! You are an artist. Besides that, I love fresh figs. You also have a green thumb. Is there anything you are bad at? 🙂
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Stick around. My numerous deficiencies become glaringly obvious over time! However, I aDOR that you haven’t picked up on them yet.
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Let’s not forget that a plaster cast of a fig leaf was pasted on King David’s statue (penis) in order not to upset Queen Victoria’s extreme sensibilities. It was thought she might walk past his ‘uncovered’ statue in the Albert palace and possibly faint.
I just thought of that little item. Don’t know why.
Great photo!
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And we know that only Bertie managed not to upset her delicate sensibilities. Thanks for this little tidbit, Gerard.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fig_leaf
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Ha! definitely minimalist! Well, it is a good start! Are they sweet and tasty?
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They were! Let’s hope next year is a bit more bountiful. Have a nice weekend, Eliza.
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Thanks, and same to you.
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Such a joy and lovely dish too!
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Thanks, Barbara, I do rather love that bowl. Found it at a Farmers’ Market and am kicking myself for not buying a few more pieces at the time. I never saw that potter again. Isn’t that always the way?
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Boasting again ! 🙂
Well you must be, or you wouldn’t’ve added the definition. [grin]
Naah, I don’t mean it for a moment – and it is a wonderfuly minimalistic shot, Barbara !
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You see through me as usual, M-R!
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Wouldn’t it be horrible if one could divine people’s thoughts, Barbara ?!
Eeeewwwww … 🙂
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May you have many more in the years to come.
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The gardener’s mantra: Next year, next year, next year.
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Wow–don’t eat those all in one sitting! 😉
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Bwahaha! We did devour them in about two minutes after I took this picture. They were delish! Next year!!!
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Barbara, minimal but so very lovely. And I agree about the lovely robin egg blue plate on which you’ve so beautifully arranged them. Paint that same scene in oils, and someone would pay handsomely to hang it in their kitchen!
If it makes you feel better, my normally generous trees were “minimalist” this season, too. My harvest wasn’t better than yours by more than a few. Makes them sweeter, though 😉 Maybe figs, like oaks, have on and off years. And yes, “next year, next year…” Hugs, WG
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It does make me feel better, actually, that your figs weren’t bountiful as well. Do you remember the variety of your fig? Of course you do. I agree, the figs in bowl would make a nice still life. Thanks, WG!
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I love figs! My grandparents had figs growing beside their house; that was the on,y time I ever had them when I was a child. What a happy memory for me, having a bowl of figs at night with milk. The plate is beautiful too!
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The possibilities for enjoying figs are seemingly endless, aren’t they? What a nice memory for you to have.
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Ficus minimalistus will hopefully become Ficus Multissimus in a few years! Love your sense of humor.
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Thanks, Annette! Let’s hope so.
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I have always enjoyed figs and this was a great beginning harvest, Barb. I like dried dates, too. It make me think I am eating candy, while it is a bit healthier than candy. Fig bars are not as good as homemade fig bars! I had a friend once who made this buttery layered fig bar, with crumb topping: Yummy!
Oh, Barb, I thought of you when I posted a ‘new’ find in music, may not be your ‘cup of tea,’ but let me know if you like him…Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness. I found the song, “Canyon Moon” on the radio to be quite haunting. Take care and enjoyed this post!
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I am adding that I see pingbacks, which I did not put on my comment. Hope this was not a result of my writing or maybe it is for me to go on a search? Just checked back, Barb, to see if you had noticed my fig comments. Smiles!
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Hi Robin! You know I get confused. In my little lentil of a brain, I thought I had answered this when we had our conversation about Andrew McMahon. But that was on YOUR blog and not mine!! Anyway, I hope my stingy fig tree gives me enough next year that I can start to sort through recipes and make something yummy!
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That picture is perfect! You got the Minimalist Challenge award in my book!
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My recalcitrant fig tree and I thank you very much!
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I do like a fig or two 🙂 And that’s the perfect plate!
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Ha! Evidently a fig or two is just what I better get used to. Thanks, Jo.
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