It’s a little house on the big hill Christmas miracle. I grew lemons.
Lovely, deep-colored, good-sized lemons — and today, I picked my first harvest.
My zest for growing lemons began years ago when a friend was having great success with her lemon tree, and I was a bit jealous — you could even say I was sour. Long-time readers might even remember I (not) so subtly wrote about the tree and my envy of her having fresh lemons.
Growing my own lemons became a goal. This was the year, thanks to Brad Gritt. During an innocent visit to his farm for a build-your-own planter workshop (it was very nice), we spied lemon trees in the greenhouse.
But it was cold, and we all knew those tender trees needed to stay in the warm greenhouse for a few more weeks.
Meyer lemon trees are well suited for containers. They are hardy in USDA Zones 8-11 but need to be brought indoors when the temp drops below 50 degrees. Container planting makes this easy.
The tree should be placed in direct sun for at least six hours a day. Originally, I placed the tree on my covered porch, but soon realized it was not getting enough sun, so I moved it to the edge of the garden. There, with the herbs, it would get all the sunshine it needed.
Think back to the summer weather. Days of 100-degree temps and no rain. My lemon tree must have thought it was on vacation in the tropics, because it thrived.
I had green fruit filling the limbs. Yes, green. They were small at first but it was exciting to watch the blooms, then buds, then green fruit get bigger each week.
This went on for months.
As a gardener, I know to trust the process, but I was beginning to think I had a lime tree. Friends were teasing me as theirs slowly turned from green to yellow.
I was becoming a sourpuss and a little tart about my lime tree.
Then, one day, I began to see the green fade. Halleluiah! It might be a lemon tree, after all.
But dang it, the evenings were starting to get cool, and I became very protective of my evolving lemon tree. The plant that I neglected through the tropical summer was my new obsession. Even a hint of 50 degrees in the forecast, and I would cover it with a cotton sheet for the night. I knew if we (me and my tree) could get through this cool spell, there would be warm days ahead.
The days got warmer, and although it wasn’t the high sun of summer, each hour of outside sunshine was necessary for my pampered plant.
I don’t really baby plants. Oh, the garden gets attention when it’s young, but after that, it is survival of the fittest and which ones can escape the deer. This Meyers lemon tree was an exception. I was now giving this plant all the juice I had, willing it to hang on and turn my “limes†into lemons.
At a painstakingly slow pace, more yellow than green began to appear on the fruits.
Friends were picking theirs, going on about how juicy and delicious they were. Having fresh lemons for salad dressing, squeezing fresh juice into their tea. I was lime green with envy.
Finally, the weather forced me to move the tree indoors. It is near a window, where I can see it every day. I was expecting the plant to drop a few leaves with the move, but so far, so good.
The lemons have continued to ripen, and after months of anticipation, today I harvested my first crop of lemons. What sweet success!
I have a smile on my face when I say this year gave me lemons, and I made delicious treats as a result. I think the timing is a little Mother Nature and a little Christmas magic, giving me a win for the holidays.
Merry Christmas. May your limes turn to lemons that bring joyful zest to your days.
