Oh YES!!! Why don't you just have a barbecue with fresh squeezed meyer juice and invite us, then see how many show up???? I will if I can get my money together! John, you are one LUCKY man!!

Lucky?? I chose to come here, as anyone can. I brought my Meyer lemons here because they told me they don't have Citrus tristeza; they don't have HLB; they don't have CLM, etc. Truth is they had all of those things; they just didn't know it. Until I brought the weight of the US govt. resources to force them to do the investigations, they did not know the problems they had. Is it better now? it is better in the sense that we at least know the problem; dealing with it comes next.

well it does sound like paradise . any place where citrus grows well in ground and houses don't need AC is paradise for me . I would certainly look into doing a vacation trip there.

Why did you decide to grow lemons in Uruguay? Why don't you grow other citrus?

a

I am not in Uruquay' I am in Guatemala; I do grow other citrus; but commercially only the Meyer lemon is the most profitable

Sorry, John . How did you decide on Guatemala?

John. I don't think Mike meant anything bad about saying lucky. Yes people like you make their own choices that allow them to be in a situation that your are. Others aren't so lucky to have that ability. Just like some people are born into wealth and others aren't. Is that luck or fate. Idk depends on your spiritual beliefs. For me God has a plan. Sometimes it sucks sometimes it's good. I think you have done an amazing thing there. I've watched you build up your business since you started sharing it it with us. I would love to visit one day and if I'm lucky enough, LOL, I'll do it.

Great work John.

Mike

John - I recall you said this year you will start shipping to Montreal , if yes which retailer is it available with . N am talking about the Mayancello and/or the Lemons themselves

Dev

Sounds amazing John! I may have to keep that invite on file!

Since I love to grow I often wonder if someday we will relocate somewhere tropical year round... but maybe it is my frigid CDN blood in my veins... I don't know if I could take permanent heat, a cool breeze is so invigorating!!

I think becoming a snowbird someday would be the perfect compromise....

hobby,

You would be amazed at how many snowbirds we get here; a lot of them come every year for 3 months. BTW Guatemala City and Antigua, Guatemala are not hot, only Spring-like. Orchids grow outside in my garden.
Vlad,

I chose Guatemala for a number of reasons; but maybe the most important for my lemons is there are economic opportunities here that don't exist in many places. I have been in 52 countries and 46 of the 50 US States; and Guatemala is among my top 5.

Dev,

We may be shipping lemons to Montreal in November/December; I will let you know when we do.

John, that sounds like a wonderful place! I would love to visit someday!

Holy Cow !!! just looked up the weather for Guatemala city , u werent kidding John its indeed eternal spring , year round temps between 13 - 25C , tonnes of sunshine n rainfall . It sure is paradise . Am bookmarking your invitation as well :)

John, could you take some pic of some orchids for me???? I LOVE them considering I have well over 100 of them...What kinds do you have?

Mike,

I only have 2 orchids in my garden, as I am not an orchid grower, nor do I want to learn to be an orchid grower. I have a Monja Blanca, the national flower of Guatemala, protected and prohibited sale or purchase in Guatemala; I have one we have had for a lotta years. The other, I don't know the name; but here is a picture; I think it is a cattleya (Sp)

Beautiful John!!

John, I am so intrigued! I wanted to ask you a question, since you brought it up : )

You mentioned having visited 52 countries and 46 of the 50 US States. May I ask, how have you traveled so much? I LOVE to travel and I have made it my mission to show my kids as much of the world as we can; the places they've seen, their experiences, and their learning of culture just warms my heart. I have a high school daughter and an elementary school aged son. My husband and I have already taken them to 5 other countries and almost half of the states on the mainland, including as many U.S. National Parks as we can. We are planning for two more overseas trips to different countries in the next four years, so we are trying to alternate years with domestic and international trips. But still, at that rate, it would take us forever to see 52 other countries! Kudos to you John, I love the spirit and the gusto of explorers!

Hawaii has been called the most isolated population center in the world, so as you can imagine, traveling out from here regularly can become pretty expensive for a family of four. I have to say, if it were not for my aggressive savings plan dedicated to travel, I would probably be a citrus addict like everyone on this forum, ha ha. These trips are probably the only reason I am not buying new trees every other week : )

p.s. My apologies to anyone if they mind that I'm discussing non-citrus topics here, but come on you guys, this is an exciting thread!

I've wondered about this myself. John, we are listening...;-)

John, thank you..For what it's worth, that Orchid is growing so beautiful! By the way, if you could...What is the relative humidity you usually have there?

On average, Hawaii has about 55 to 65 percent humidity all year...It is uncomfortable or just right? Here is can be unbearable with dew points over the 70's, then some days it drops all the way down into the 40's...That summer..In winter, you can forget about humidity...Only about 25 percent and with heat on in the house, nada..That6 is why I HATE fall and winter. I hate the lack of humidity..So do my plants...

Mike

Mike, I think the humidity here is just right. Similar to the region that John lives in, neither AC nor heating is really required here. Our house does have AC but we have only turned it on a few days this year. I would rather have the patio doors wide open so that I can look at my big avocado and palm trees (and soon, my in ground Meyer lemon tree) than use the AC. Our town is a bit up in elevation but is situated in between two mountain ranges, so we get a lot of the trade winds that make it cooler here. We have a lot of micro climates at various elevations, so the temps and humidity are different just a few towns over.

That sounds absolutely wonderful John...what a beautiful place to live. I have a very good friend who grew up all over Latin America. Her Dad was from Cuba and worked for Pan Am. I will have to ask her more about Guatemala since she lived there at least once, maybe twice.

Need more pictures!

Figs...AMAZING ..You painted yet another paradise spot one could only dream of living in..Oh, is there any way you could take pics, I'm sure John won't mind and post them for us...A view out of your window, just some landscape...? I would love to see photos of your surroundings and the spot where your tree is going to go...Man, it sounds like t-shirt weather all year long, just what the doctor ordered..My favorite kind of weather)))

John, yes! I love your story, thanks for sharing. I consider myself to be pretty adventurous as well and I met my husband during one of those adventures when I was only 18 years old in Japan (he's a NY'er, but he was there adventuring too). It has been my mission to take our kids on travels whenever we can and if it were up to me we would be living overseas somewhere. However, my husband is rooted deeply here in Hawaii and has asked me if we could hold off on adventuring abroad (long-term) until our youngest is out of college. We have two kids and assuming that our son (10 yrs old now) will go to college right after high school for four years, I'll be 47 yrs old when he leaves the house at 22. After that, the kids can visit us abroad : )

Also, wow, 8th generation infantry officer; thank you for that long line of service! As a young gun, I also served and my pride and joy during my time was obtaining secondary MOS 8023.

Mike, yes, I'll put some pics up. I have limited pics on my phone, so I'll put some up next time I'm on my laptop. It is definitely tshirt weather year round for me and bathing suit/swim trunks year round for the kids.

The temperatures look wonderful. The humidity looks intolerable. Average humidity 75% or even more?