A quick trip down to our village yesterday to pick up a few things and drop off lemons. I have a Meyer lemon tree, there’s only a short period around early spring where that fruits really prolifically, but for most of the year it fruits steadily. Far more than I could ever use unless I went mad making lemon honey, lemonade, and lemon-juice ice-blocks. So mine go to good causes. Just about all year – for about the past 12 years – I’ve kept a small basket filled with lemons in the waiting room of our local health clinic. Those attending with colds, sore throats or flu, anything where a nice hot drink of lemon and honey would make you feel better, are welcome to take a few of the lemons. And around September where the tree has the major burst of fruiting, I pick anywhere from 200 to 300 lemons over 3-4 weeks and they’re put out in a crate in front of our local dairy, which sells them for some good cause. They usually make about $60+ – painlessly for all concerned. That to me is far better than having a circle of rotting fruit under my tree. The only thing that puzzles me is why some people do seem to prefer that to sharing the unwanted fruit.
Sharing
16 September 2011
A quick trip down to our village yesterday to pick up a few things and drop off lemons. I have a Meyer lemon tree, there’s only a short period around early spring where that fruits really prolifically, but for most of the year it fruits steadily. Far more than I could ever use unless I went mad making lemon honey, lemonade, and lemon-juice ice-blocks. So mine go to good causes. Just about all year – for about the past 12 years – I’ve kept a small basket filled with lemons in the waiting room of our local health clinic. Those attending with colds, sore throats or flu, anything where a nice hot drink of lemon and honey would make you feel better, are welcome to take a few of the lemons. And around September where the tree has the major burst of fruiting, I pick anywhere from 200 to 300 lemons over 3-4 weeks and they’re put out in a crate in front of our local dairy, which sells them for some good cause. They usually make about $60+ – painlessly for all concerned. That to me is far better than having a circle of rotting fruit under my tree. The only thing that puzzles me is why some people do seem to prefer that to sharing the unwanted fruit.