When Life Gives You Lemons...

Every day we check the lemons hoping to see the tell-tale sign of ripening: yellow. After much thought, I decided to sacrifice two lemons that were hanging low to the ground and being feasted upon. At first I thought, "Good the bugs will eat them and leave the others alone." Then I got concerned about multiplying insects and thought the plant might also be wasting energy trying to plump these two up. So today they were sacrificed for the greater good.

I literally gasped when I spotted a new blossom on the lemon tree while tiptoeing around the pond. I had noticed alot of new growth- longer branches and new leaves; but never expected to see more flowers. Kerry points out that the lemon tree practically blocks the sprinkler in the bed from watering anything else, which is fine by me. But, I came to the realization that I have no idea what the growth cycle is of a lemon tree. So my visions of homemade Lemon Mirangue pie on a hot summer day have been crushed. After some googling, I discovered that we probably won't have ripe lemons until October-December. That just seems so odd- citrus in the fall and winter? Then I remembered everyone freaking out on our Napa trip in January when there was a freeze. "Oh no, the citrus!" I did read other stories of lemon trees producing year round so I am going to keep my fingers crossed that we luck out and be sure to wrap ours up when the temp drops.


I'm not the only person enjoying the lemons these days. This little guy was hanging out in the sun. I couldn't help but hear the voice of Manny from Disney's "A Bug's Life" when I saw him. "Mmnn yet again it is up to me to rescue the performance!" When Max discovered him, it was like Steve Irwin reincarnated. I swear that boy can catch anything! So he fed the preying mantis some ants and floated him on a leaf "raft" in the pond. This is when about I explained karma to Max and convinced him to let the poor thing go.