“Add a slice of lemon to your water; it will impede the formation of kidney stones,” the doctor told me after I had a kidney stone attack. This is not difficult to do since I enjoy a slice of lemon in my water and ice tea. I also enjoy lemon squares and the occasional slice of lemon meringue pie.

Lemons are not native to Florida, but were brought here by the Spaniards in the 1500s. It is a native tree of Asia in northeast India, northern Burma and in China. There were several attempts to establish a lemon industry here in Florida, but lemon trees are so sensitive to cold that major frost events caused catastrophic losses and lemon farms were abandoned.

Some people plant lemon trees in their Florida yards and to my delight my neighbor has a small lemon tree in their backyard. I am fortunate to have such sharing neighbors and look forward to this time of year when they share their harvest with me!