When Life Gives You Lemons… Make Sure They’re the Right Kind 🍋

Y’all know by now that Jordan and I have a bit of a plant problem.

Every time I turn around, another tree, herb, vegetable, or random plant I’ve never heard of somehow finds its way onto the homestead.

This week’s new addition? A New Zealand Lemonade Tree.

Now, when Jordan first told me the name, I assumed it was just another lemon tree with a fancy title. You know how plant people are. Everything sounds more exciting when you give it a unique name.

But apparently, this tree is actually different.

Wait… You Can Eat It Right Off the Tree?

The fruit looks like a lemon, but it doesn’t taste like the lemons most of us are used to.

Instead of making your face do that thing where one eye closes, and your lips disappear, these lemons are sweet enough to eat fresh. They’re low in acidity and have a mild citrus flavor that people compare to lemonade.

Hence the name.

And honestly, I think that’s pretty cool.

Because let’s be real… if somebody handed me a regular lemon and told me to take a bite, I’d politely decline.

Another Tree for the Collection

The funny thing is, I don’t think we were actively looking for a New Zealand Lemonade Tree.

It just sort of happened.

That’s how a lot of things end up at 1737.

One minute we’re talking about a plant. The next minute, Jordan has found one, researched it, and somehow made room for it in the food forest.

At this point, I’ve stopped asking questions.

The tree collection already includes lemons, limes, oranges, pineapple guava, pomegranates, coffee, jackfruit, bananas, and a whole list of others. What’s one more?

At least that’s what Jordan says.

The Best Part of Homesteading

One of my favorite things about this journey is that we’re constantly learning.

Every plant teaches us something.

Sometimes we learn what grows well.

Sometimes we learn what absolutely does not grow well.

And sometimes we discover that there are lemons out there that don’t taste like lemons.

I didn’t know I needed that information in my life, but here we are.

We’ll Keep You Posted

The tree is officially settling into its new home here at 1737, and now we wait.

We’ll see how it handles our Louisiana weather, how quickly it grows, and eventually what those fruits taste like straight from the tree.

Because if they’re as good as everyone says they are, there’s a pretty good chance I’ll be standing outside eating “lemons” and wondering why all lemons can’t be this friendly.

Until then, we’ll keep watering, watching, learning, and seeing what happens next.

Because that’s what we do around here.

Plant it.

Grow it.

Learn from it.

Then tell everybody else about it.

Cultivating Community. Harvesting Home. 🍋