May is Here!

Happy MAY! This month brings so much to celebrate – especially women! That’s why we think that these delicious and pampering DIY treats will make the women in your life – and your Mother’s Day – especially healthy, delicious and zesty!

Do we have the squeeze for you! You might think a lemon is a lemon is a lemon, but there are some varieties that are really unique and special! Limoneira’s Kurt Metheny joins Living Local to share the amazing lemon varieties that are grown at the Limoneira Ranch! One favorite is the Meyer – somewhat of a cross between a mandarin and a lemon, which makes them taste so special and sweet! Pink Lemons evolved naturally and are outrageously beautiful with their stripes and pink flesh. With a slight hint of grapefruit, these pink lemons are a must-try. HINT: Perfect for special dressings, juices, and your summer mocktails (or cocktails)! Then there are the classics as well as seedless lemons. Yes, no seeds in this citrus! Learn all about Limoneira lemons in this video – we think you’ll find it all so, well, juicy! 

Brett Johnson speaks about all things LIMONEIRA during his interview with The Fresh CrEd podcast at the Viva Fresh Conference, recently held in Texas! So many juicy and not widely known tidbits are shared – including how Limoneira is growing much more than just their fabulous beloved lemons, but also so many different varieties of citrus as well. Plus - drumroll - Limoneira also is one of the largest avocado growers in the state of California, as well as even owns vineyards in Paso Robles growing grapes! However, the most important thing that Limoneira is doing these days, according to Brett, is prioritizing all sustainability efforts for taking care of the land, taking care of the people of Limoneira, and especially their customers. After all, he says that this is how you stay successful in business and farming for over 129 years and how you continue to be successful for another century and beyond! Hear how Limoneira is changing the world with its citrus, and especially noteworthy is the story of the Chef whom Brett met at a fine dining restaurant in Oxnard, CA. He had been a recipient of a Limoneira scholarship while he and his parents were living on the Ranch! Watch the full interview here.

Limoneira has a natural wastewater treatment system⁠ that we are so excited about! This system has a series of gravity-fed ponds that work together to circulate & clean 30 million gallons of water annually!⁠ It neutralizes any bacteria with ultraviolet rays, and the result is California Title 22 approved ….. recycled water! ⁠ The water is currently used for landscape irrigation but will hopefully soon water Limoneira’s orchards as well! BONUS? These ponds also provide a habitat for a variety of birds, pollinators, and beautiful plants, so to us it’s simply paradise.

Then, check out our collaborator, Liz Shaw from Shaw’s Simple Swaps, who shares one of her recipes from the Fertility Foods Cookbook. Check out this delicious cucumber salad tossed with a surprisingly easy, but delicious, lemon poppyseed dressing. Healthy and tangy, Limoneira lemons and poppyseeds plus a few other ingredients make this salad super tasty – and zesty! Check out the video above for both recipes. 

It wouldn’t be a Memorial Day weekend without grilling and making some crowd-pleasing burgers! This recipe not only has the perfect balance between sweet and spicy flavors, but the additional zest makes them EXTRA mouth-watering! Try our Limoneira Blood Orange Ginger Chipotle Mayo, sure to be your most requested condiment for your summer burgers and sandwiches! Check it out here and start your grillin’!

We have had so much excitement at the Ranch over our beautiful, cherished sheep, and a couple of Momma sheep have recently had their adorable babies! Having the baby sheep with their mommas just makes us all feel cozy and cuddly, and we thought you might appreciate them too! More big news – we understand two more are expecting babies soon! Stay informed on our Instagram channel and make sure you’re keeping up with all the ba-ba-baby excitement!

Male giraffes will enjoy the company of their mothers for up to 2 years, but female giraffes will often travel with their mum until the parent dies. Those sweet little giraffe gals, right? And then that Momma giraffe will spend most of their life either nursing or pregnant. Career Mothers! FYI - Giraffes can live for about 30 years in the wild.

Then, Chimpanzees have such a strong bond between Momma and baby chimp that Chimpanzees love and care for their mother and vice versa even after they grow up into adults. That’s a lifetime of caring for each other, right?! For more details and many more fabulous animal Mommas, check out this article here.

Hello, Bob Flood from Center, Texas! You are our subscribing winner of the month, and we are thrilled that you’re enjoying our newsletters! We hope you’ve been loving the start of spring and wish you a fabulous fun-in-the-sun kind of summer ahead! Hopefully, one that’s not too hot!

To all of you here today, we appreciate each of you and hope you’ll check back next month to see if our next cherished subscriber is … YOU!

And don't forget - The ZEST IS YET TO COME!