Peter, Paul and Mary sung "Lemon Tree", a song still being played to this day. The words were poignant and yet wise: "
Lemon tree oh so pretty and the lemon flower is sweet, but the fruit of the poor lemon is impossible to eat."
Our tiny lemon tree was planted last summer and it had survived through a miserably cold winter only with the help of my hubby and me. Each evening John and I would brave the sharp cold wind and lovingly cover the tender lemon tree and the even more delicate Persian Lime. Throughout the frost and the exceptionally low Florida winter temps, our little lemon tree clung faithfully to 3 tiny bright green fruit. Then, as the days warmed the fruit got bigger and started adopting a shade of yellow.
Unfortunately at this moment in time the weeds went on a rampage and all around the base of both lemon and lime trees the weeds grew lush, thick and tall. I wanted to go out and hand pull them but my last adventure in the great outdoors left me with over 27 assorted insect bites so I was waiting on 2 things; the bites to heal a bit and a tube of organic, non toxic bug repellent called
Buzz Off from
Teddy Started It .
John, being a tackle it now and get it done type of guy, went and grabbed a bottle of Round-Up weed killer, which I was not too happy with at all.
Sure it killed the weeds but the little lemon tree had been covered in tiny very fragrant blossoms and, just days after the herbicide attack, it dropped every teeny-tiny green orb that could have matured into a lemon. At the same time all the new buds of promised, flowers-to-be also dropped abruptly to the ground. Afterwards I asked him if the weed killer he used was recommended for use around fruit trees and other edible plants. Hmm, guess what?... it says right on the label ; "not to be used around vegetables or edible plants..."
So looks like our lovely lemons will have to be tossed as they are now toxic and not safe for human consumption...there goes the summer lemonade that I had been looking forward to.
.webp)
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