Lemons!!

BF and I just bought a house finally after 3+ months and 3 other offers fell through, we got keys a week and a half ago and have been slowly moving boxes up there in the car every day or so before our big move with a U-Haul this Saturday. The house is great- and the yard is awesome! We have a lemon tree, orange tree, tangerine tree, and some kind of apple tree!

Here are a few pics of the yard- a storm channel is behind us, with a park behind that, so it's pretty quiet, except for the hummingbirds who hang around and yell at each other..

Left is a flowery tree, looks like hibiscus flowers, I didn't know they grew on a tree though (i need to learn about plants!!); tangerine tree; apple tree; lemon tree on the way right.


And the lemon tree again (bottom half of it anyway), on the side of the garage :


And me holding a lemon:


The lemon tree is a Eureka lemon tree, our friend who lives close to the new house has one too, it apparently produces lemons all the time, and they are BIG. Like grapefruit size.

So the purpose of this post is to ask- what do I do with all these lemons?? And in the winter, what do I do with the oranges and tangerines? The orange tree is massive and has tons of small green fruits on it already. But right now I am concerned with lemons. Everyday there are some on the ground, we don't even have to pick them!

I know lemonade, lemon bars, adding lemon juice to laundry, but what else? Ideas please!!

slice them and freeze them and then when you want a nice cool drink just take a couple slices out and pop them in your drink we just get a tub and layer it up with them and inbetween each layer put some grease proof/baking paper.

ill have a think i use lemon juice for cleaning stubborn stains

im quite jealous of your lemon tree

oh and lovely garden

Good luck with your move and your back yard is really nice.

Lemons are by far the most versatile food! You can add it to pretty much anything.

Marinades
Glazes
Drinks
Salad dressings
Baking
Jams

You can cut them up and stuff chickens/turkeys with them and thyme and garlic to give a great lemon poultry dish.

Pretty much anything

Just go to Google and type in "lemon recipes" and you will find literally thousands.

You can also use them as decorations. Just put a bunch in a pretty bowl and put the bowl out. Very nice centre piece.

Thank you all! I have been searching and reading some about lemons, looked through tons of recipes yesterday and saved a few to try out, but I know I won't be able to keep eating and drinking lemons, I'll get sick of them if I overdo it, so I'm looking for more household uses. And I found several on the internet too, I just thought I'd see what other ideas I can get from my TCS friends, you guys/girls are so clever and have answers for everything!

I'm jealous too!!!! Wow. How cool your yard looks! I'd go crazy with all that citrus fruit around me....yum!!!

Lemon pie
All the stuff mentioned previously - and, yeah - just Googling "lemon recipes" will give you tons of stuff.

So jealous...... And congrats!! How lovely that you have a new home and beautiful yard!

First, congratulations on the new house! Love that lemon tree, too!

Now, exotic uses for excess lemons. Their high acid content makes them a good natural cleaner/solvent for everyday items. I've heard good results from people using lemon juice to soften buildup in ovens. Even microwave ovens -- if you heat a cup of lemon juice in it, any gunk on the tray or walls will soften and be easier to remove.

Lemon Pie or course

Originally Posted by DarkMavis

Thank you all! I have been searching and reading some about lemons, looked through tons of recipes yesterday and saved a few to try out, but I know I won't be able to keep eating and drinking lemons, I'll get sick of them if I overdo it, so I'm looking for more household uses. And I found several on the internet too, I just thought I'd see what other ideas I can get from my TCS friends, you guys/girls are so clever and have answers for everything!

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You can also give some away to friends and family who don't have their own trees. Things like that go over well with co-workers, especially those who live in apartments.

YOU CAN SHIP THEM TO ME!!!! PLEASE!!! I"ll EVEN PAY FOR THEM!

Ahem, sorry.

Nice back yard! And have I mentioned your lemon tree?? Enjoy your home!

Hmmm, lemons:

If you cook or bake, zest your lemons and put the zest in ice cube sized containers and then freeze. Lemon zest can be added to chicken especially, but also to baked goods, some candies, etc. Lemon juice can be frozen quite well, too.

I have a recipe for a lemon cake and glaze that is decadent. Also lemon curd, different kinds of lemon pies: sponge, meringue, sour cream. Pineapple upside down cake, many kinds of muffins. Lemon breads. Glazes for ham, spareribs, recipes for pork chops, etc.

Oh, and 31 uses for lemons and lemon juice:
http://gomestic.com/homemaking/lemon...d-lemon-juice/

Enjoy!

I think your hibiscus flowered "tree" is a Rose of Sharon. It's really a shrub, but you can trim it to look like a tree.

Dumb as it sounds, I don't think I've ever actually seen a lemon tree. It's so perfect, it looks almost fake. Pretty surroundings!

Originally Posted by Natalie_ca

You can also give some away to friends and family who don't have their own trees.

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Yep, we will try to pawn them off to friends and neighbors and whoever else when we get overloaded. Actually I think there is a charity that collects your excess produce and delivers it to food banks. I'll have to look that up for when that orange tree is ready..

Originally Posted by Winchester

YOU CAN SHIP THEM TO ME!!!! PLEASE!!! I"ll EVEN PAY FOR THEM!

Ahem, sorry.

Nice back yard! And have I mentioned your lemon tree?? Enjoy your home!

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Thank you!! If you think lemons would ship, I'll send some your way!

Originally Posted by stephanietx

I think your hibiscus flowered "tree" is a Rose of Sharon. It's really a shrub, but you can trim it to look like a tree.

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Ah-ha! Thanks! Do you pronounce that like Sharon Stone or like Ariel Sharon of Israel? (so I can sound like I know what I'm talking about when I tell people about it ) The hummingbirds love those flowers.

Originally Posted by Keycube

Dumb as it sounds, I don't think I've ever actually seen a lemon tree. It's so perfect, it looks almost fake. Pretty surroundings!

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Thank you! I never saw a lemon tree in real life before moving to CA. Lots of people have citrus trees in their yards, and I was hoping we'd get a place with a citrus tree, and if not I'd plant one right away. Well, we got 'em! It's pretty neat that in busy cramped dense LA County we finally found our own little sanctuary. (I really hope no one is offended by my bragging here, I don't mean to brag, I'm just happy! It's kind of been a while..)

On a sort of related note, I am going to have to spray the orange tree with insecticidal soap (or someone told me Simple Green would work and also be safe) because it has lots of whiteflies.

I am also jealous of your lemon tree. I love lemons; I eat them with a little salt. Well, actually a lot of salt.

Originally Posted by nurseangel

I am also jealous of your lemon tree. I love lemons; I eat them with a little salt. Well, actually a lot of salt.

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Don't forget the tequila!

Ah-ha! Thanks! Do you pronounce that like Sharon Stone or like Ariel Sharon of Israel? (so I can sound like I know what I'm talking about when I tell people about it) The hummingbirds love those flowers.

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It's Sharon as in Sharon Stone. Glad I could help!

If you have a juice extractor you can bottle the juice for use later. Heat the juice and bottles to almost boiling, fill them almost full then put the tops on really tight, cool and put in the fridge (or freezer if you use plastic bottles). It keeps for ages.

Ohh prettyyyyy

I know where Im going if I ever get around to driving out to CA...I dont fly

I have no suggestions other than cleanin supplies, I use lemon juice when I clean the inside of my stove out and when I take apart the electric burners for a good scrubbing. It works awesome I just mix a 1/4c of lemon juice in a spray bottle and fill the rest with warm water smells great and works awesome!

Congratulations on buying your home, and that yard is fantastic.

I'd recommend learning how to dry the lemons to make sachet or potpourri. That would make wonderful gifts.

Actually making up bottles of lemon cleaner, or lemon spritzer would make nice gifts too. Now that you are a home owner you will be looking for even more ways to economize right?

I know if I was your friend or relative and knew you were making lemon gifts I sure would be looking forward to my birthday and Christmas every year!

Originally Posted by otto

I know if I was your friend or relative and knew you were making lemon gifts I sure would be looking forward to my birthday and Christmas every year!

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I keep coming back to your pics - your backyard is a real sanctuary.