Ted Parker grows a variety of produce in his northwest Manteca backyard.

Included are tomatoes and lemons.

In order to rid the area of insects, the Manteca resident tossed a bag of ground chili peppers along his lemon tree and row of tomatoes.

“I don’t know if that had anything to do with ‘it,’” Parker said.

By ‘it,’ he’s referring to the larger than grapefruit sized lemons recently produced from his tree.

All told, Parker estimates his tree produced about a dozen or so mammoth lemons.

“I do have some that are normal sized,” he said.

In fact, during the three years of living at his Windgate Drive home, Parker noted that the lemons off his tree were usually quite normal.

That held true until recently.