The pavement of Al-Salam Street adjacent to Gamal Abdel Nasser Street and Al-Salam Mosque in Nablus has become a market that attracts hundreds of shoppers looking for barbary figs and figs whose season has started these days.
Despite the large number of sellers from the villages west of Nablus the fruits displayed are mostly from the village of Tal west of the city which is famous for barbary figs and figs who keep the price high in the early days of the season.
Some of the vendors are fig tree owners from the town of Tal and others are from outside the town who buy the fruits from the owners or from the market of Tal in the morning and then display it on Al-Salam Street. The fruits used to be sold to at Israeli markets in the past but not anymore.
The visitors to the town of Tal see dozens of families that spend their day in the fields of figs and barbary figs gathering the produce early in the morning and preparing it by dawn to be sent to the markets. Dozens of families live off this produce in the town of Tal especially those who own large acres of planted land.
According to the Palestinian National Information Center Palestinians have known the fig tree cultivation for thousands of years since the Canaanite era. Figs were one of the oldest fruit trees known to Palestinian people and cultivated by them.
The fig tree could survive under all environmental conditions and lives in all kinds of soils; sand mud and even rock. It does not require large quantities of water and fertilizers. It is resistant to pests and diseases and all these qualities have given this tree a prominent place in Palestine.
Among the most famous species of figs are: Alnaqi Alasali Alkhadari Albiaizi and Alkratmani Almwazi Alqlibi and Alswadi Algharbi Alqaisi Almilaysi Aladaisi Alkharoubi Alhamri and Faltaa’wi.
