Column: Something About Nothing

Every time I see a lemon tree I think of Peter, Paul and Mary and these lyrics: “Lemon tree very pretty and the lemon flower is sweet but the fruit of the poor lemon is impossible to eat. It is a song of love beneath a lemon tree one hot sultry summer. The song compares love to the lovely lemon tree.”

The father in the song advises the boy “Don’t put your faith in love my boy. I feel you’ll find that love is like the lovely lemon tree.”

As the summer wears on the father is right and the beautiful love turns sour like a lemon on the lovely lemon tree.

The songs about love in the ’50s and ’60s often ended badly. But there was something about the mystery of that unrequited love that drew us in to the lyrics and made our hearts long for a love that was deeper than the deepest ocean (“My Love” by Petula Clarke).

I could not help think of that song as I read an editorial by Chuck Hunt, the editor of the Faribault County News. He tells the true story of a Delavan woman who received a lemon tree as a gift from her daughter as a Christmas present. I am sure this woman loved her lemon tree. She nurtured it in her basement until an agent of the U.S. Department of Agriculture anti-smuggling unit informed her that she was loving an illegal tree. Yes, this tree was smuggled into the United States illegally. This woman offered to burn the tree to take care of the problem but not if had to be confiscated by the government agency.

These government agents knew where she lived. They knew all details of her life. They arrived promptly to take the illegal tree into custody. Before these agents left, this woman had to promise never to buy another lemon tree. The lemon tree tale lives on because of the federal government. Lemon tree very pretty but the lemon flower is sweet but the fruit of the poor lemon is impossible to eat because the government took the tree away.

I found this true story interesting because I have been thinking of purchasing a lemon tree for my home. I like lemon water, and I like cute trees. I have been looking in the magazines and on the Internet for a lemon tree. But now I wonder if I dare buy a lemon tree.

Will the government be stalking me because I have purchased a lemon tree? The charges of harboring an illegal lemon tree are very serious. It appears to be as scary or worse than the IRS appearing at your door.

Since I have been drooling over all of the seed catalogs that find their way to my mailbox I decided to check out the USDA’s site. I found there are states that it is illegal to buy citrus trees from. I found there is an actual website www.saveourcitrus.org that lists quarantine information. Those of you who are gardeners probably know this. I am a brown thumb so this was amazing news to me.

There is actually a toolkit available for download with fact sheets and PowerPoint presentations to explain the situation to unaware people such as me. The reason why we have illegal plants is because of disease and the threat of that disease spreading to trees in our state.

I must admit when I read the editorial from the Faribault County Sentinal I couldn’t believe all the drama surrounding an innocent woman with her lovely lemon tree. After reading more about it on the USDA website, I now understand the problem with the spread of disease in citrus trees.

I will still search for my lovely lemon tree but at local nurseries. Hopefully I can then trust that the USDA will not arrive at my door and take captive my lemon tree so the unrequited love for my tree will not turn sour.

Lemon tree very pretty and the lemon flower is sweet but the fruit of the poor lemon is impossible to eat. Peter, Paul and Mary’s song lives on in our hearts reminding us that in life there is sweet and sour.

The young man sings, “A sadder man, but wiser now, I sing these words to you. Lemon tree very pretty and the lemon flower is sweet but the fruit of the poor lemon is impossible to eat.”

If life hands you a lemon will you gain wisdom and make lemonade?

Wells resident Julie Seedorf’s column appears every Monday. Send email to her at thecolumn@bevcomm.net. Her blog is www.thankfuljoy.com. Listen to KBEW AM radio 1:30 p.m. Sundays for “Something About Nothing.”