What I'm Eating - Meyer Lemons
This is first year that my little Meyer Lemon tree - er, bush - has produced enough lemons that I have to figure out what to do with them.
My tree set about 15 fruit this year - not really enough to do some big preserving production, but more than I use in my everyday cooking and whatnot. I've used some of them, but I have seven left, and they're starting to turn pretty orange, so I figured it was about time to pick them and do something with them. Mostly, I use the juice for cooking and mixed drinks. Also the zest makes a nice addition to herbal teas.
The lemons from my tree tend to be VERY seedy.
Zest is laid out to dry, juice is squeezed for freezing. I'm a big fan of freezing instead of canning. I can't even tell you how many canning experiments have failed in my kitchen. I never like the end results - always too acidic for my taste. Anyhow, I freeze just about all extra produce from my garden - there are very few things that don't freeze well if you know how to do it. I even freeze my excess tomatoes.
My tree set about 15 fruit this year - not really enough to do some big preserving production, but more than I use in my everyday cooking and whatnot. I've used some of them, but I have seven left, and they're starting to turn pretty orange, so I figured it was about time to pick them and do something with them. Mostly, I use the juice for cooking and mixed drinks. Also the zest makes a nice addition to herbal teas.
All the zest has been removed for drying. It dries very quickly when set out at room temperature on paper plates.
The lemons from my tree tend to be VERY seedy.
Other Stuff - Seed Clean Out
I've been cleaning out my seed stash. I have an airtight rubbermaid container in my refrigerator where I keep all of my seeds. In the past five years of gardening, I haven't ever had seeds so old that they didn't germinate, so I just keep saving and saving from year to year. It was getting to the point that I couldn't even rifle through the packages because the box was way too full, so it was time for a clean out.
There are many seeds I've saved from swaps that I know I won't get around to using. There are some vegetable categories that I've given up on for one reason or another (carrots, watermelons, garden beans...). And there are some things that I forget that I have every year and buy again. Parsley, anyone?
Plus, after the clean out, I've picked out some fun varieties I know I HAVE to try this year. SO excited about that Roselle...
The seeds that I've cleaned out will be donated to our local community garden.
There are many seeds I've saved from swaps that I know I won't get around to using. There are some vegetable categories that I've given up on for one reason or another (carrots, watermelons, garden beans...). And there are some things that I forget that I have every year and buy again. Parsley, anyone?
Plus, after the clean out, I've picked out some fun varieties I know I HAVE to try this year. SO excited about that Roselle...
The seeds that I've cleaned out will be donated to our local community garden.
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