Farmer Joe Freire has been carefully cultivating 100 trees at his St Lawrence farm and says he now has 25 that are producing fruit.
His locally grown lemons are now being sold from his honesty box, as well as at Holme Grown in Grouville and at the Fresh Fish Company at Victoria Pier.
Asked what inspired him to grow lemons in Jersey, the farmer said: ‘There is nothing that goes better with fish than lemon and we are an Island surrounded by water with some great fish produce. They are also great with a gin and tonic.’
Mr Freire said he had spoken to some farmers in Portugal about tips on growing lemon trees and he said the most important thing was to keep them out of the wind. As such he grows the lemons in a ‘French cloche’ – a type of tunnel to protect them from the elements.
‘My lemons are slightly longer in shape which makes them perfect for tea too. If you just take the skin from the lemon, leaving the white behind and put it in hot water, it makes a wonderful tea,’ he added.
The lemons are retailing at about £5 a kilo, according to Mr Freire, who hopes that next year he may be able to produce enough to supply supermarkets.
Jersey is aiming to achieve net-zero carbon emissions.
In the Island’s Carbon Neutral Strategy, which is due to be debated this year, the government has set out plans for Jersey to reduce its Scope 1 and 2 emissions – those produced in the Island and from the electricity we generate locally from burning waste as well as what we import from France.
But the plan also acknowledges Scope 3 emissions – those created in other jurisdictions as a result of goods and services consumed and required in the Island. This includes food produced elsewhere that is shipped or flown here.
India, Mexico, China, Argentina and Brazil are the world’s biggest cultivators of lemons.
