I had a tree for five years and it died suddenly last year. I kept it in my solarium. Not too expensive and fairly easy to keep alive.
Still waiting to hear back on source.
ha, well, this was redundant.
Completely not true. All citrus parts, dried or not, are really hard to import. Florida and California REALLY like their citrus industries.
Also not true. Because you might give that tree to your little, old grandmother who sells her humble cottage, leaving the tree on the porch for the new owners, a nice young couple from Spokane, and that young couple joins a garden club and gives away rooted cuttings at a spring fundraiser to a little girl who grows it in her parents backyard. Then when she’s 23, she marries a doctor from Pensacola and brings her kaffir lime tree with her. And then every citrus tree in Florida dies.
That’s BS.
First, we’re talking about leaves, not a whole plant - there is no reason a grower in CA shouldn’t be allowed to sell leaves in non-citrus growing area.
Second, the exact same scenario could take place with someone who lives in CA and can buy a whole plant from a CA grower. Blah blah blah, little girl moves to Pensacola and kills trees. If they need to be that tightly controlled then they shouldn’t be sold to consumers at all. If you can sell them in your local area, you should be able to sell them outside growing areas.
no worries. glad i could help.
Thanks Keith! 
I hadn’t had time to follow the link, but I did and just placed an order. I’m not sure how good the price is since they sell them in 25 leaf quantities and not by weight, but the ones I got at the store were 29 leaves for $8.50. I guess it depends on what they consider a “leaf”, since they are weird two-part leaves. If the two parts constitute one leaf, it is a deal. If each part is its own leaf then it’s a little more than I paid locally. I’m fine either way.
It’s more than the “one leaf” thing. I think one bag is about 20 grams or so. The quality is top notch, fwiw.
On the whole quarantined plant thing, I virtually guarantee you will be able to find someone who will sell you a plant online, whether they’re supposed to or not. (Not that I would encourage such a thing) The regs on what can be shipped where are so complicated state by state that there’s bound to be a nursery that “missed” your state on the no-ship list for a particular plant.
For example, lets say that a particular state (definitely NOT Rhode Island) doesn’t allow most currants and gooseberries to be grown without a special permit, and doesn’t allow black currants at all. But somehow… well, I’ll let you know how the mead turns out in a few years 
i don’t pretend to know how the quarantines work - but I talked to my local nursery and they get their citrus from a grower in California. So at least in that respect it is fine. And there is another nursery in WA I can get them from. I’m not sure I want a plant though, still deciding. Because if I had a lovely and kind of pricey plant, would I want to strip leaves off of it? I’m not sure :-\
I got my leaves today - IMO, it is well worth the price. They give you more than 25 leaves (full leaves, both parts) and they were healthy looking and a nice dark green. The extras they give you more than make up for any that are blemished or otherwise nasty looking (very few). I’m totally happy with this source, and will use them next time I need leaves.
Mixed up a big batch of my Thai curry paste tonight - I hope it lasts a while, 4 cups of packed cilantro is a LOT of leaf plucking, and grating a half cup each of ginger and galangal . . . a labor of love. ;D
I’m making some soup with the paste later this week, I’m getting hungry just thinking about it.
Do you have a ginger grater? A very worthwhile kitchen utensil. (plus you can use it as a hops planter in the tropics ;) )
i use on of these:
Do you think the ginger grater works better? I might have to get one.
I cannot see the details of the picture you posted. I’m on my iPhone. It looks like a file… ?
Ceramic ginger graters have cone-shaped points for abrasion. They separate the soft tissue and juice from the fiber. Once you see how they work you will not want to go back to a cheese grater. A common utensil in asian kitchens. You should be able to find a nice one for around $10.
Posted from my iPhone using an owl.
I’ll check it out. The one I posted is a microplane grater, it works really well for a lot of things. Ginger kind of gums it up though, because of the fibers. Next time I go to Uwajimaya - thanks for the tip.
I always wondered how ginger graters could possibly work. Microplanes just shred the hell out of ginger, so I figured a bunch of raised points would just be the same if not worse. I’ll have to keep my eye out for a cheap one.
Microplanes are killer for citrus zest, though. Worth their price even if it’s just for that one purpose.
ginger graters are amazing. All the fiber just balls up and can be picked out occasionaly so it doesn’t gum up the works.