Lemons (15 kg)

Although the origins of the lemon are uncertain, it is thought that the first places where it grew are China, where it was grown before the Song dynasty (960-1279 AD), the Indian region of Assam and the north of Burma. According to some scholars, the ancient Romans already knew about lemons. The hypothesis is supported by the representations of these fruits in some mosaics in Carthage and frescoes in Pompeii; however, according to other scholars, it is possible that the authors of those works had imported citrus fruits or had seen them in their countries of origin. In fact, there is no paleobotanical or literary evidence to support this hypothesis.

Around 700 AD the lemon spread to Persia, Iraq and Egypt. The term “lemon” derives from the Persian term لیمو, which is pronounced līmū and generically indicates citrus fruits. The first literary descriptions of the lemon are found in Arabic writings of the tenth and twelfth centuries, by Qustus al-Rumi and Ibn Jami ‘. Lemon trees were first used by the Arabs as ornamental plants. The first lemon crops in Europe were those of Genoa in the mid-fifteenth century. Later the lemons were introduced in America by Christopher Columbus who brought some seeds to Hispaniola. In Europe the first cultivation of lemons was started before the year 1000 in Puglia, on the Gargano precisely in the countryside of Rodi Garganico where a unique cultivar is still cultivated today, the Limone Femminello, considered by botanists to be the oldest in Italy, then in Sicily, after the 10th century and later in Genoa (mid-15th century). Lemons appear in the Azores in the same period, in 1493, by Christopher Columbus, who brought them to the island of Hispaniola [no source]. In 1747 the Scottish doctor James Lind recommended the use of lemon juice as a cure for scurvy. In the 19th century, the lemon began to be intensively cultivated in Florida and California.

The lemon is a tree that reaches 3 to 6 meters in height. The buds and petals are white and violet.
The fruit is yellow on the outside and almost colorless on the inside, spherical to oval in shape, often with a protuberance at the apex and pointed at the other end. The peel can be very rough to smooth, more or less lined on the inside with a white spongy mass called albedo. Lemons are usually grown for fruit production but the plant can be grown in pots for ornamental purposes. Specific soil for citrus fruits is recommended for pot cultivation and annual repotting before winter shelter in the greenhouse. In a favorable climate, the lemon blooms and bears fruit twice a year. Flowering lasts at least two months and the ripe fruit can wait another two months on the tree before being picked, which favors a systematic harvest. The spring flowering produces the best fruits, the harvest of which then lasts all winter, from November to April or May. The second flowering, sometimes forced on commercial plantations, occurs in August and September, the fruits can be harvested from May onwards, immediately after the winter ones. Under favorable conditions, an adult tree can bear 600 to 800 fruit per year.