While the majority of our farm partners are happy to let us share their name, the provider for our Lemon Essential Oil from Argentina has requested that we keep their name private. However, they have been producing quality food for over half a century. Their experience, commitment to the community, and dedication to the craft are reasons why their essential oil is of such high quality and why we are glad to work with them.

Lemon

Lemon is a citrus fruit that is commonly used in cooking and baking, as well as in various household and beauty products. The fruit is yellow in color and has a sour, acidic taste due to its high concentration of citric acid.

Argentina has a range of climates and microclimates, but in general, Argentina is well-suited to lemon cultivation. Argentina has a subtropical climate, with hot and humid summers and mild winters. The region also receives a moderate amount of rainfall throughout the year, which is important for the lemon’s growth.

Lemon trees require warm temperatures and plenty of sunshine to grow and produce fruit. They are also sensitive to frost and cold temperatures, so the mild winters in Argentina's lemon-growing regions are ideal. Additionally, the high humidity in these regions can help prevent water stress in the trees, which can improve the harvest yield as well as the quality of the produce.

How It's Grown

The farm grows lemons sustainably, in harmony with nature. In their farms, plants undergo phytosanitary treatments, pruning, irrigation, and nutrition. Each tree is managed and monitored in a sustainable process until the fruit is ready to be harvested, processed, and taken to thousands of households around the world. The farm takes care of each of the 120,000 plants they produce each year in their nearly fifty nurseries. Renewals at high-density plantations use certified material.

Lemon Varieties

There are two types of Lemon Trees that our farm partner harvests: Sami Late and Eureka.

Sami Late is a proprietary variety of San Miguel and has a late harvesting period (hence the name) from June to August. The fruit rind is medium in thickness and smooth. Each lemon may contain 2 or 3 seeds. It has high juice content and a longer shelf life than other varieties, a characteristic that makes it a highly appreciated product in markets around the world.

Eureka, on the other hand, is the most widely grown lemon variety outside the Mediterranean basin. It has many favorable characteristics that have resulted in its popularity. The trees have a spreading growth habit. Harvest season is well distributed over time. The fruit has smooth skin, rind thickness is medium to thin, and it has a high percentage of juice with a high concentration of acidity. It has few seeds or it may even be seedless, depending on climate conditions.

Neither variety is very thorny but both are moderately vigorous.

Harvesting & Processing

Like most other citrus trees, the lemons are harvested by machine, and the rinds of lemons chosen for essential oil production are cold-pressed to release their essential oils. High pressure, without heat, provides a higher quality oil that is shelf-stable for a longer amount of time.

Caring for the Earth

They work in concert with nature and their community for the betterment of both. In every task they undertake, they’re committed to the future. They’ve aligned their operations on the farm with the 17 goals proposed by the United Nations for sustainable development.

With your help, they will continue their climate action plan, a significant piece of which is the use of renewable energy sources. As part of their commitment to the environment, they also monitor the Global Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Inventory, which helps them discover places to implement efficiency and improvement measures; they’re also actively preserving over 6,000 hectares of native forest growth to serve as a Carbon-Dioxide sink.

Conclusion

Because of these commitments and the quality of their essential oils, Nature Packaged is glad to partner together with this Argentinian farm and provide their excellent products to you through the Farm Direct Marketplace.

To purchase Nature Packaged's Lemon Essential Oil, click here!