Bush Lemons And Farm Strolls

“Lemons. He liked lemons. They made you make funny faces when you bit them, and a very, very long way in the future there was a really amazing planet where they’d evolved into people and lived in harmony with a variety of hyper-intelligent bee. Evolution. Thousands and thousands of years of tiny changes could turn little burning sparks of chemistry into people, into monsters and angels and even human beings.”
~ Nick Harkaway, Doctor Who: Keeping Up with the Joneses

Yesterday morning at the Mullum Farmers Markets I bought some fresh local oysters on the half shell for my dinner. Noel Baggaley grows them at his oyster leases on the Brunswick and Tweed Rivers and they are the most delicious things – all briny, creamy and fat.

Fantastic! But when we got home I realised I had no fresh lemons. Our Meyer lemon is covered in tiny fruit and flowers, and it will be months before they are big enough and ripe enough to enjoy. Then I remembered. Down by the dam grows a bush lemon tree.

The bush lemon is a rough, thick-skinned lemon that has become naturalised in sub-tropical Australia. This one is growing wild. Ben grabbed a bucket and we took the dogs for a walk down the paddock to see if the tree had any fruit on it. Luckily for us, it did.

Ben gave the tree a mighty shake (it has BIG thorns on it) and we picked up the fruit that tumbled to the ground. Enough for my oysters and then some. 🙂

Bert is enjoying being able to wander the paddocks again after his successful cruciate ligament surgery. He’s only been mobile a few days, and we’re keeping an eye on him, but so far he looks just fine.

Harry Dog? Well, by the time we were finished our walk he was covered in mud from his refreshing dip in the dam.

And the lemons? Juicy and delicious!