Almost all of the fruit trees that I encounter are or were neglected to some degree.
Many were planted a long time ago by someone who was able to maintain them at the time, and perhaps for many years, but then relocated, passed away, or just got too elderly as the trees grew and required more work.
Many were planted by those who simply enjoy gardening around their homes, and wanted to grow some fresh fruit, but were not aware of how intensive the maintenance of most of the fruit trees is, or how to execute such maintenance properly.
Many were planted by so-called ‘gardeners’ or so-called ‘landscapers’ who had no intention of actually ‘maintaining’ them, or believed that they could ‘maintain’ them with motorized hedge shears and a blower . . . just like they ‘maintain’ everything else.
There is a young but nicely productive ‘Eureka’ lemon tree at work. I would not say that it is neglected. Someone has been maintaining it well since it was installed. However, I remind others at work to take some of the lemons because the tree gets overloaded with otherwise unappreciated and unused fruit.
The tree is strategically located right outside of one of the big cafeteria kitchens, so that those who work in the kitchen could use the fruit. The kitchen probably uses more lemons that the still young tree could produce, but does not seem to use any from the tree.
While dumping greenwaste from the kitchen onto the big compost piles, I noticed this labeled but unused lemon. I can not help but wonder why lemons from my tree aren’t good enough, and why this particular lemon wasn’t good enough either. How many of us nowadays would even recognize a lemon tree, or appreciate the fruit that it produces?
Tony Tomeo 
This is so sad! On Friday I am posting about how overjoyed I am that my potted lemon tree is flowering and has a tiny lemon. I can’t even imagine something so beautiful being wasted, especially outside a cafeteria.
Karla
LikeLiked by 1 person
I just brought a good box of lemons to the crew. I needed to get some of the weight off of the tree. I will pruned it later, to keep more of the fruit within reach from the ground.
LikeLike
I love lemons — the thought of any going unused hurts my heart!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Those on the tree here will all get used. Lemons grow like weeds here, so surpluses are very common. Some of my clients have lemon trees that produce hundreds of pounds of fruit.
LikeLike
It amazes me that people are downright afraid to use homegrown produce. It’s like they somehow think it’s not the same as the stuff from the store. We’ve been so conditioned by food companies and “big ag” to no longer trust that we can grow and cook our own food. This was part of why I started my blog, so that people could see that it was doable. I mean, what did people do before grocery stores??!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
It is weird that we do not trust what is in or own gardens, but we do trust what is grown in some third world country where pesticides are not regulated, and it is standard procedure to lie about not using toxic chemicals.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I couldn’t agree with you more!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love fresh lemon. Judy makes delicious lemon bars and lemon curd, and I like fresh lemon juice in my ice water (I’m partial to sour things.) Reminds me of when I lived in Israel, in the cafeteria there was a big tub of grapefruits next to a hand juicer and you could squeeze all the fresh grapefruit juice you could drink. Heaven!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Grapefruit ROK! The main justification for keeping the freezer at the old home was to keep grapefruit juice frozen. (It is easy to can, but is ruined by the cooking.) We juiced too many at the end of winter, but the juice lasted almost until the next winter.
LikeLike
Hmm. I never had it frozen, but I’ll swear by the fresh-squeezed.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Fresh squeezed is best. The problem was that all the grapefruit ripened over winter. It lasted quite a while on the tree, but not forever. It freezes well, and is excellent while still chilled while the weather is warm in summer. It eventually oxidizes in the refrigerator, so we thawed only a half gallon or so at a time.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Reblogged this on Tony Tomeo and commented:
Wow, I forgot how big this lemon tree was. It got pruned down during the past three years, partly for containment, and partly to repair structural damage.
LikeLike