Lemon Tree, Very Pretty

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…but the lemons are dropping everywhere! Not that any of my Minnesota friends will be able to help me with this. See, this new place that Josh and I just moved into has a lemon tree in the back. It’s very cool, but every day I pick like 5 icky lemons off the ground. So, I basically have no clue how to care for a lemon tree. How do I know when to pick the fruit off? Should I pick it all of? Will I kill the tree? (Because a dead tree would look really stupid in our patio). Any good recipes that utilize lemons???

6 thoughts on “Lemon Tree, Very Pretty”

  1. I know you can squeeze the lemons like oranges and then freeze the juice to use in recipies. I bet you could grate the peel and freeze it to use in stuff like banana bread.
    Since you have a patio and a tree does this mean you now have actual yard space, instead of the patch of sidewalk like at you old apartment?

  2. I could…but that would be an insane amount of lemons. My friends just came over and said they think that we have some kind of lemon/orange hybrid. Apparently it makes the lemons taste a little sweeter. Interesting.

  3. We had a lime tree at the house my parents and my uncle share in Sarasota, FL, until it got struck by lightning (it was the shortest tree in the yard — weird). Some of knowing when to pick is just trial and error, but they seem to be ready when they’re a little bit tender. I don’t think you’d hurt anything by picking all of them, but I’m not sure since our tree had limes in different stages of growth pretty much year-round. Just don’t let it get struck by lightning.

  5. Actually…I don’t think I’ve ever seen ligntning out here. That’s strange now that I think about it. Hmmm… I’ve been giving the tree a daily shaking, then collecting whatever has fallen on the ground before the ants can build another colony around it.

  6. That’s so cool that you have a fruit producing lemon tree in the backyeard! Anyway, yeah, Steph, you won’t hurt the tree by picking the fruit, you just might get unripe lemons. Sounds like what you’re doing, shaking the tree an picking up what falls down is your best bet. You probably know this already, but if you like them more sour,pick them earlier. I’m no expert on lemon trees, but I’ve had a little experience with other fruiting trees. They like it when you take their fruit :)