The Giving Tree

The time came to kick our newly-adopted child outside. One can only drop so many leaves and blossoms before starting to become a burden on gracious hosts...

A month ago, we received this beautiful little Meyer Lemon Tree as a house-warming present from John's aunt and uncle. It's been spending most of its time inside, since freezing temperatures have wreaked their havoc on several nights these past few weeks. We sent it outside to play during the day so the sun didn't forget its existence. Last week, when the weather turned gorgeous at last, we moved the lemon tree to the backyard full-time to help it get acclimated to living in the wild yet again.

Yesterday was the day to plant! John carefully measured where to dig the hole. He allowed for room to walk behind the tree, even when it is fully grown. Isn't he a smarty pants? I simply watched the master work his magic, and before long we had a planted lemon tree in our backyard!

We soaked the tree twice. We will soak it once more today, then place our mulch on top before soaking again. It is critical this first week for the tree to get plenty of water so the roots feel safe enough to start working in their new home. I'm learning so much about growing things already!

I am so excited for this little guy to start giving us fruit. I use lemons all the time in cooking and baking, and it will be so much fun to skip (yes, skip) out to our tree to get what I need. Honestly, the grocery store will go bankrupt without me this year! What a liberating feeling to stick it to the produce man.