Lemon Fruit and Flowers

One of the things I love about our meyer lemon tree is that it can have fruit in all stages and flowers going at the same time. 

Gorgeous!

We have 6 ripe fruit on it right now [the bungees are to keep the branches upright until we take the fruit off.

The fruit will stay fresher a lot longer if we just leave it on the tree.   It's ripe when it's canary yellow.   They're almost ready....

The flowers smell sooooo good. 

I hand pollinate with a little paint brush every morning when I go out to the studio.

I've got three more green lemons fattening up and the tree is loaded with new buds and flowers.   I'm hoping to get a bunch more fruit next year, too. 

Last year we made these lovely puddings with the fruit.   Eric wants me to make them again this year....and we'll have enough lemons to do something else fun, too.

Lemon Tree Very Pretty

This lemon tree was a gift.   I love it.   Last year it bore two whole lemons.   So I made a Hoosier version of Sussex Pond Puddings.    They were delicious.  

This year it's taller and it has 6 nice big green lemons on it.  Plus a little one that might get big.   I'm looking forward to more of those puddings.  

Behind the lemons are several walking sticks cut from sapling trees that had been wrapped by grape and honeysuckle vines.   They're lovely and sturdy and perfect for fighting off the stray dragon that one might encounter way out here.  

Ripe Lemons

I have a lemon tree that I've been babying for a couple of years. 

It bloomed.

It produced a lot of tiny green lemons.

All of them fell off except the two at the very tippy top.

As they got bigger, the top tipped.

They stayed green forever.  For.  Ever.

They finally turned yellow.

Now I'm trying to decide what to do with them.

Suggestions?

Meyer Lemon Tree

A good soul gave me a Meyer Lemon tree in sad shape to try to rehabilitate.  It's doing well and I've got loads of blooms on it this year. 

Rumor has it that the tree has to feel old enough before it actually bears -- as in, it doesn't really matter how old it is, it likes to wait for a few years and 'few' can be 'many' if it's not ready.

Weird, huh.

I don't know how old this one is, so I'm pollinating it myself with a tiny paint brush just in case this is the year it decides to make lemons. 

I brush all over the sepals and then the pistil in the center of every blooming flower.   Then I go back and do it again so that everybody is getting someone else's pollen. 

I hope it works.

Lemon Pickles

When I discovered The Joy of Pickling, I found some recipes for pickled lemons.   I tried three of them for the exotic fun of it and to our surprise, we found that we actually use and like them enough to make more when we run out.  




So far, we've gotten the most use out of the plain ones.   We eat them in pasta especially - a lovely zesty tang in rosemary sauce or scampi.   Mmmm.

It's easier than you think to make them.   Once you try them, you'll be hooked.   We're making them 2 pints at a time now. 

Lemon Pickles

• 1 pint jar
• 2 organic lemons
• 2 tsp salt
• extra lemon juice

Wash the lemons, cut off the ends, and slice the rest of the lemon into rounds.    Put a slice in the jar and sprinkle it with a bit of the salt.  Repeat until all the slices are in the jar.  Use all of the salt.  You can press the slices down to make them fit.   Put a lid on the jar and let it sit overnight to draw out the juices.   The next day, add lemon juice to fill up the jar and then sprinkle a bit more salt on the very top slice. 

Let them sit on the counter for 3-4 weeks, until the peel completely changes texture - it will look darker.   At that point you can refridgerate them.  

You'll find that they're a fun and interesting snack - surprising and delicious. 

Lemon Pickles

 So, I've been playing with lemon pickles.   There were several recipes for different types of lemon pickles in the Joy of Pickling book that I just read [Link below]

I've never had pickled lemons, so I had to try some.  I mentioned it to a friend and she told me how her mother used to pickle lemons.  Even more motivation!

I didn't know which ones to try, so I tried three different kinds:   Moroccan and Indian [from the book] and Venezuelan [from my friend].

Here they are [L-R]:   Venezuelan, Moroccan, Indian.

The Venezuelan ones were very salty and spiced with pepper, coriander, allspice and bay.

The Moroccan ones are milder and pickled in lemon juice, salt and a bit of olive oil.

The Indian ones were spiced with fennel, cumin and black pepper as well as salt.   After a week, you pour off the juices and mix them with sugar and hot peppers, then boil it all [with the lemons] for a while and let it sit for another few weeks.    Sweet hot and delicious!

The recipes for the Moroccan and Indian pickles are in The Joy of Pickling.   Here's the recipe for the Venezuelan ones.   Enjoy!

Venezuelan Pickled Lemon Slices

• 2 lemons
• salt
  
• 1 1/2 tsp allspice
• 1 1/2 tsp cracked black pepper
• 1 1/2 tsp coriander
• bay leaves

Makes 1 pint.  Slice the lemons.  Mix the spices [without the salt] together.   Layer in the jar as follows:

• salt
• spice
• lemon
• salt 
• spice
• bay leaf
• lemon
  

Continue until all the lemon slices are used up.    When the slices are about half way up the jar, slide bay leaves into the jar on the outside of the slices.   [It's pretty and adds more bay].    Let sit on the counter or in a window  for a couple of weeks.   They'll start to ooze and the jar will fill up with juice in a few days.  That's normal.

These were super salty when we made them.  I used a generous layer of salt between the lemons.  Next time, I'd use just a very generous sprinkle of salt in each layer - about the same amount of salt as you use spices in each layer. 

UPDATE:  A better way to deal with the saltiness is to just rinse them off before you use them.   Doesn't matter how much salt you pack them in then.    Also, that salt is tasty as a flavoring for meats and soups.    Use it all.


If you try these, let me know how you like them.  Here's the link to the book.