Today was the day. A moderate day of sun and puffy clouds at the end of January. It was time to pick the lemons. We have one lemon tree, and a central branch was sheared off several years before we bought the house. The tree was burdened with lemons. It was time to pick them.
Lemon tree, about 10 feet tall
Lemon trees have thorns, and picking lemons is rough work. The lemons need to be trimmed off with a pruning shears. We picked some bare-handed, and our fingers got dark and greasy from the lemon wax and dust.
All in all, we picked hundreds of lemons.This table seats six comfortably. There are more lemons than in this picture– at least two more big wine cases piled high with them. But the tree is breathing easier.
Freshly picked lemons
The tree will now drop its leaves while new ones are forming. In a few weeks, there will be scented blossoms, and then the cycle will start again, from tiny green lemons, visible in May, to harvest in January.
–Quinn McDonald is a writer who owns a lemon, orange, fig and grapefruit tree. It makes her feel rich beyond measure. (c) 2009. All rights reserved.
I have a Ponderosa Lemon tree that produces a couple of hundred lemons every year. Lately it has been blooming earlier, while there are still lots of fruit on the tree. My question is, would it be better for the tree if we removed all the fruit while it is blooming?
And if you google preserving lemons, you’ll find some notes on preserving whole lemons in jars full of salt. I don’t know how they taste, but it sounds interesting! As does freezing the juice for your own lemonade during the hot summer! Oh how yummy!
Those lemons are an amazing sight. I had no idea you’d get so many from your one tree. And so yummy!
And Happy Anniversary – I love that you shared your only grapefruit on your anniversary.
Tree-ripened fruit is so different from the stuff you get in the grocery, you wouldn’t believe it’s the same fruit. –Q
Hannp Anniversary.
What a beautiful harvest. This morning the temperature here is -1. Thanks for the warm sunshine.
Heh. My mom used to juice the lemons from our tree and then freeze the juice in ice cube trays. Then you just grab a few cubes whenever you wanted to make lemonade, or use the cues in a drink or soda for a lemony taste.
Yummy!
Your mom was a smart woman. That is just what we are going to do–instant lemon juice for vinaigrettes, drinks, sauces.