Our Tradition of Giving…Loquat Trees

Happy Giving Tuesday, Everyone!  Today we are planting the loquat seeds to grow them into small trees and give them away to friends!

What are loquat trees?  They are evergreen trees that produce a sweet, tangy fruit that is easy to harvest and make into jams, smoothies, pies and taste fantastically fresh off the tree. They originated in Asia, but since then it had spread across the world, even to our backyard here in California.

There are so many positive attributes to these trees, not to mention that they’re easy to propagate.  They make great decorative plants with their beautiful large evergreen leaves; and their juicy fruits contain healthy natural vitamins and are delicious. They are perfect for Giving Tuesday, as we continue our tradition of planting the loquat seeds today and giving them to friends later after they have germinated into small trees.

When I was growing up, we had many different fruit trees in my parents’ backyard.  I loved going into the yard and enjoying fresh fruit picked right off the tree, especially because I helped to plant many of them, including plum, peach, kumquat, lemon as well as berries such as strawberries and boysenberries.  We would pick containers and containers of fruit during harvest time and help Mom in the kitchen baking pies and canning preserves. These delicious memories and lovely wholesome traditions are the things that I hope to pass along to our children as they grow up.

I’ll tell you the story of how we came to have multiple loquat trees in our garden.  After we got married and moved into this house, my in-laws were also moving… but they also wanted to pass on their love of the family garden and keep the loquats in the family, so they grew small pots of loquats the year they were getting ready to move, and gave us a dozen or so.  Well, we planted some of these small trees ourselves and shared some by gifting the remaining trees to friends.  Each year ours grew and so did our friends’! We would have loquat picking get-togethers where we shared stories, laughter, and all the while enjoying some of our pickings right off the trees, bringing me back to the fond memories of when I was a kid back in my parents’ yard.  Much of the plentiful bounties we harvested were also given away and shared among other friends…and the goodwill continued year after year.  Well, since then friends have moved but we have continued the tradition of planting the seeds and then gifting small plants to others.  The power of giving is amazing and fruit trees are such wonderful gifts as they hold the power of health and abundance.  Even though it may take a while to grow, but it ultimately yields much more than the seed planted.  It is the basic law of nature that we reap what we sow.  Although we may not see the fruit of our labor right away, with diligence and patience, we’ll receive back much more than what we started.  It’s true in all areas of life, including health.

Teaching our kids this tradition of gifting loquat trees brings a smile to my face, knowing that these gifts may produce healthy fruit for our friends and their families in the years to come.  Although loquats are simple to grow without needing much care in the garden, their health benefits are reportedly numerous!  When you give a loquat tree to a friend you are giving them the potential for an abundance of vitamins and nutrients.  Living and eating healthy has always been important to me, starting since my younger years as a competitive athlete, but even more so now that I have young children.   Even though my days are full as a small business owner, a wife, and a mom, but I believe it’s important to make time to stay up-to-date on how to stay healthy and prepare the food that’s good for your body.  My daily routine includes a healthy smoothie in the morning, vegetable juicing in the afternoon/evening, and my Plexus pink drink for that extra energy to keep up with my kids and to break through that plateau in my workout routine.

(For my friends and readers on my @YappyPug Instagram account, you know how much I love the Plexus pink drink and how much it helped me in achieving my goals.  But for my new readers, please feel free to comment below or send me a note through our Contact Page if you’d like to learn more about my experience with Plexus and what it may do for you.)

That’s enough of me “yappying” away for now.  Until next time, take good care of yourself, be safe, and stay healthy!