Recently, walking down a sidewalk in Jerusalem, I spotted a large cluster of unripe grapes growing out of an olive tree. A grapevine had obviously been planted near the tree and had found its way up the olive branches and set fruit on the edge of the canopy where ample light was available. According to Jewish law, although the tree was situated in someone’s private garden, the grapes hanging over a public sidewalk spot would be permissible, once they ripened, for anyone passing by to pick and eat.

Speaking of Jewish law, olives and grapes enjoy a special status because of their association with the land of Israel: “A land of wheat, and barley, and grapevines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of olive oil, and date honey.” (Deuteronomy 8:8). The five fruits alluded to in this verse receive priority status when in the company of other fruits because of their association with the land of Israel, which is their habitat.

Let’s say you have a platter of fruit that includes apples, grapes and figs. After making the blessing recited before eating fruit, you must first eat from the grapes, then from the figs and finally from the apples. Grapes are first in the order of consumption because they are closer to the word “land” than figs, and the apples are last because they are not mentioned in association with the “land” at all.

Interestingly, the Bible does not reference any of the five fruits mentioned in this verse as being eaten out of hand. Grapevines are cultivated for the wine made from their fruit. Olives are grown for their oil, which is used in lamps. Miniature pomegranates made of colorful wool are worn as a decorative element, hanging from the hem of the high priest’s robe. Dates are grown for their honey, which is made by crushing and boiling the fruit until their moisture content is reduced to zero, leaving a sticky, honeylike, syrupy substance behind. When the promised land is mentioned as “a land flowing with milk and honey,” this is not bee honey but rather honey manufactured from dates. While figs are not explicitly eaten anywhere in the Bible, a medieval commentator known as Rashi concluded that the forbidden fruit consumed in the Garden of Eden was a fig. He arrived at this conclusion based on the fig leaves being used by Adam and Eve to cover their nakedness. Per Rashi: “With that with which they had sinned, they were rectified.”

If you are thinking of planting a garden of drought-tolerant vines and fruit trees, grapevines and olive trees are a good place to start. According to a 1917 agricultural survey of the San Fernando Valley by the USDA, “There is a large number of vineyards in the Valley, their total extent being between 2,000 and 3,000 acres. They are largely localized in the vicinity of Burbank and in the Sunland region, with smaller acreages elsewhere. Grapes usually are grown without irrigation in this area.” Furthermore: “An exceptionally large olive grove is located northwest of San Fernando, and this grove and several others of relatively small size elsewhere in the Valley constitute about 1,500 acres of bearing trees. Most of the olives are grown without irrigation.”

If you have limited garden space with a couple of mature fruit trees, whether deciduous or evergreen, why not plant grapevines near their base? The vines will grow quickly to the trees’ canopy edge, where they will produce their crop. In the fall, once the vines have shed their leaves, you can prune them back vigorously since they will send up new shoots the following year that will provide another crop of fruit.

Figs are a trendy fruit, and fig fanatics seem to be cropping up everywhere these days. At figaholics.com, you can order cuttings of more than 400 fig varieties, but this sale only lasts during February and March, so you will want to visit the website starting in early February to make sure you don’t miss out. As for frequently recommended varieties for local growing, Black Mission has long been the most widely planted, although Kadota, White Genoa and Brown Turkey are also popular. Dave Wilson Nursery grows 21 varieties of figs, and you can find thumbnail descriptions of each at davewilson.com. To find a retail nursery near you that carries Dave Wilson trees, click the “Home Garden” tab and then “Where to Buy.”

If you are determined to grow a fruit tree despite a limited area, you will definitely want to consider the fig. Once it matures, a fig tree will need no more than a single good soak every few weeks, although potted trees, of course, will require more frequent irrigation. Fig trees are virtually pest- and disease-free and, unlike other fruit trees, are indifferent to the sort of severe pruning required to keep them growing comfortably in a small space.

The conventional way of propagating fig trees is to take 8- to 12-inch cuttings — which are clones of their mother trees — once leaves have dropped in the fall. These cuttings should be year-old wood, with a 2-year-old heel of wood at their base. Bury them in sand or fast-draining soil in 1-, 2- or 5-gallon containers so that only two nodes or leaf scars are showing above the soil surface. By the following fall, they should have developed enough roots to be planted outside or in a larger container. They should already be vigorous enough to assume the stature of small trees in their second or third year of growth.

There is an easier way of propagating fig trees, and that is by taking 4- to 7-inch cuttings and placing the bottom two nodes in a cup of water. You can do this any time of the year. However, in summer, make sure to remove any figs that may be attached since, as they ripen, they will compete with the process of root formation. You can cut a single hardened fig shoot into several pieces. Just make sure you remember which end is up on each piece.

An easy way to ensure that your cut pieces are properly oriented is to make the top cut horizontal and the bottom cut at an angle. To eliminate any fungal spores that might be present, dip your cuttings for half a minute in a solution of one part bleach to nine parts water.

Regarding propagation of the land of Israel fruits: Olive, pomegranate and grape are also readily rooted when their cuttings are placed in water. As for the date palm, if you extract seeds from dates and submerge them in water for two weeks, you will see them sprout a baby root and shoot, at which point they may be transplanted into pots.

Do you have a successful tale to tell regarding cultivation or propagation of any of the five land of Israel fruit species mentioned above? If so, please send it to Joshua@perfectplants.com. Your questions and comments, as well as gardening conundrums and successes, are always welcome.