Friday Favorite: Pucker Up for Free Lemons
I’m a big fan of all things lemon, always have been. When I was a little girl I ate lemons like other kids ate apples. My taste for the lemon hasn’t changed, I find myself adding lemon zest or lemon juice to anything that will take it. I also love grapefruit, must be something about that tartness that I love. Several years ago, when I started becoming more of a local eater I quit buying as many lemons (which was very sad). Then I discovered the joy of supporting small farms around the country for things I can’t buy locally like olive oil, grapefruit, oranges and of course lemons.
Last year I found the Lemon Ladies Orchard and was thrilled with the box of Meyer Lemons I received. They’re not like regular lemons, they’re sweeter, since they’re a cross between a lemon and a mandarine orange. The Lemon Ladies orchard was started in 2004 by Karen. She decided to name each tree after a lady who had inspired her and helped her achieve her dreams. She grows her trees with organic fertilizer, lots of sunshine and fresh water and they flourish under her care.
I received my box of lemons in the mail last Thursday and have been enjoying sliced lemon in my tea every day. Tonight I plan on making berry cobbler with lemon juice and lemon zest. I’ll make another batch of preserved lemons for sure and meyer lemon marmalade to keep the flavor of these all year long. I might even make a lemon cake with lemon icing, if I do I’ll share with a friend of mine who also has a love for all things lemon.
Earlier this week, Karen, contacted me to thank me for mentioning The Lemon Ladies on my blog and she offered to give a Meyer Gift Bag to one of my lucky readers as a Valentine’s Day Giveaway. So PUCKER UP and comment below, you could win a dozen lovely freshly picked Meyer Lemons from a small orchard in California.
What’s your favorite kind of fruit?
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177 Comments to “Friday Favorite: Pucker Up for Free Lemons”
About
This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.
Yay! Thanks for such a yummy giveaway. I’d love to try my hand with some recipes featuring Meyer Lemons!
to Melissa's comment
Lemons rank high, as do other citrus fruits, but I especially love strawberries, watermelon, and blueberries. Beautiful pictures, btw!
to Angela's comment
I like whatever fruit’s in season, but there’s a special place in my heart (and mouth and belly!) for blueberries. We had a couple rows in our backyard when I was growing up and nothing beats the taste of fresh picked blueberries, blueberry jam, blueberries in your cereal, blueberry squares, blueberry muffins . . . .
Favorite no-so–typical fruit: gooseberries! We also had a gooseberry bush. Never enough for jam or pies, but to this day, that pop and squish and sweet-then-tart taste tantalizes me (I can’t grow them where I live now and no one seems to sell them).
to Kathy's comment
Mmmm… lemons, blood oranges, cherries, blueberries, peaches, strawberries.
to Zan's comment
I love lemons and have wanted to try Meyer lemons so of course I will jump at this giveaway.
Thank you for the great posts
Erika
to Erika's comment
boy, it’s a toss up between watermelon, mango, canteloupe…..
to heidi's comment
Wonderful giveaway. If I have to pick just one fruit, I truly love them all, I would have to pick blueberries. Thanks!
to liane's comment
Oh no, I’m horrible at the “favorites” question. Call be plain jane, or a true blue Washington girl but there’s nothing like a sun warmed crisp apple off the tree! I also love eating raspberries by the handful straight off the bush.
to Kjirsti's comment
Probably peaches. I really like lemons and limes as ingredients, though. I would love to try Meyer lemons!
to Brittany's comment
It has to be our lovely, fragrant, sweet, locally grown peaches, or the wild blackberries that grow in my very own back yard.
I love, Love, LOVE peach cobbler or blackberry cobbler,
Love your blog too.
to barbara (in Tennessee)'s comment
Lemons are up there, but my favorite is red grapefruit…..since I’m on some meds that preclude eating grapefruit, I dream about them! lol isn’t that always the way?
to Susan Ingle's comment
Up here in snow-bound Maine a little citrus goes a long way to remind us that warm weather will come back eventually. I always wondered what Meyer lemons were, I will definitely be visiting the lemon lady’s site and checking out the fresh!
to Andrea's comment
Blueberries.. straight off my bushes!
to Jenny's comment
I LOVE LEMONS! I always like to keep them in the house, even though, since I’m up in North Dakota, we don’t get the best citrus up here. I wish, SO badly, that I could have my own lemon tree!
to Carrie's comment
Lemon is by far my favourite flavour as well. Oh how I’d love to get my hands on some meyer lemons.
to Debbie's comment
My grandma had a winter home in Florida and one year we bought her a lemon tree. She loved it! We went down a few years later for Thanksgiving and I remember making my first ever lemon meringue pie with lemons fresh off the tree with my mom and grandma. Thanks for reminding me of such good memories. I love the idea of supporting an orchard with produce out of my zone.
to Kristen Rossey's comment
Berries, sweet precious, short in storage berries. Huckleberries, strawberries, raspberries especially. It never seems like there is enough fresh ones to eat….
to Robin's comment
I love the winter fruit for me its what part of winter it is. Nov cranberries and right now its the cirrus all the way.
to jane's comment
Wow, favorite fruit is a tough call. We have taken to buying a box of grapefruit for Christmas, so those taste extra special to us. Then again a fresh peach off our tree is awesome. Wait – fresh cherries! I guess each season brings with it my favorite fruit. We stuff ourselves and move on to the next ones!
Thanks for the giveaway – keeping fingers crossed!
to andrea's comment
I love that you’re supporting small farms! I’ve thought about growing a meyers lemon tree as a fruiting “house plant”. But my favorite fruit has to be raspberries. Can’t wait for summer so I can have them in my cereal again!
to Alley's comment
I love the berry action – I love that the plants transition throughout the summer – first we have strawberries, and then black raspberries, and then raspberries, and then the blueberries. They seem to know each other’s schedules.
P.S. I would love some lemons!
to Allison's comment
I would love to win – its been so cold and icy here and some lemons would brighten it up a bit! But as great as lemons are I think my favorite fruit is a perfect raspberry in season.
to Kate's comment
Honeycrisp or any good, crunchy apple but I do love Meyer lemons-they are such a treat!
to J. Crowley's comment
I adore Meyer lemons! I had a tree in my backyard of them when I lived in California several years ago, and I think that tree and its lemon crop is the only thing I miss about living there. Now that I live in North Carolina, I got a small tree 3 years ago, but it has yet to produce a lemon for me. I am keeping my fingers crossed that this is the year I will finally grow one again! While I am waiting, I would be thrilled to win the package from the Lemon Ladies. Thank you for the opportunity!
– Michelle
to Michelle's comment
Meyer lemons are one of the joys of winter! Thank you for introducing Lemon Ladies Orchard.
to Shari's comment
HOLY crazy comments on this post! Yikes. This is a lot of comments.
Anyway.
I love LOVE citrus. Any kind. Grapefruits, oranges, limes, lemons, tangerines, clementines . . . whatever. And I’m not just saying that because of the particular subject of this post.
to kristin @ going country's comment
Although lemons are not my favorite fruit, I love everything lemon. Even my name has a ‘Lemon’ fling to it. I have been wanting to grow meyer lemon tree for sometime now. I would love to win. Slices of lemon in your bath water with some baking soda, is very refreshing.
to Lemongrass's comment
I am a lover of all things citrus! It’s really what helps me stay happy during these dark winter months. My favorite is grapefruit. I’m also a fan of clementines. I tried my first meyer lemon just this year- would love the opportunity to have more!!
to Sara's comment
I have to say that I am a sucker for anything citrus – and if a dessert somehow manages to combine citrus and almond, I am a goner!
to Stephanie's comment
I love anything citrus… definitely sour over sweet!
to Lauren Balames's comment
Berries are my favorite fruit. Various berry types.
I really like lemon for making lemon bars and Arnold Palmers (1/2 ice tea mixed with 1/2 lemonade).
to Mrs. H's comment
I love lemons also! I also like all berries and peaches.
to Betty's comment
Fav? There’s more than one…. lemons, nectarines, watermelons, crisp apples… craving summer now!
to Jill's comment
I would love to help you support small farmers and win some lovely meyer lemons.
to Lisa's comment
I’m a Maine girl so I’ll have to go with our wild Maine blueberries! However, a bag of lemons would certainly brighten this grey winter.
to Jenn's comment
Meyer lemons are my favorites! When I lived in northern California i had access to two trees that my grandfather planted. I had lemons year round. My mom made pies and lemonade. I made large batches of lemon pickle. My mouth is watering!
to Nancy's comment
ooo yummy. I’m a lemon eater from way back, too!
to Bari's comment
I love raspberries! But I would love to try Meyer lemons…I have had such great things about them. What an awesome giveaway!! I’ll keep my fingers crossed:)
to Vivian's comment
I love grapefruit…I can eat like three in a sitting!
to Katie's comment
I know it is thought of as a vegetable, but it is technically a fruit–avocado! Then, think of avocado doused in Meyer lemon juice–swoon…I’ll keep fingers, toes, eyes crossed–thank you for the great giveaway.
to Meredith Thomas's comment
I read through the Lemon Ladies website. What a wonderful little story behind a farm! I love food with a story…makes it all the more personal. :-)
It’s also nice to find places where you can mail-order citrus (for those of us who live up in the colder areas). Happen to know anywhere where I can get kumquats?
to Justin's comment
hmmm… tough to choose. Raspberries or grapefruit… or raspberries or grapefruit? I’m going to go with raspberries. But ask me again tomorrow, because it might be different!! Either way, I’d love to win a box o’ lemons!
to Colleen's comment
I have a love affair with granny smith apples. I can never get enough. Lemons come a close second. We used to have lemon trees in our So Cal backyard growing up and one become a “Lorange” tree when it became friendly with a nearby orange tree. It made the most delicious breakfast juice!
What a fun giveaway…I’ll get out all my lemon recipes just in the hopes I win!
to Kristen @ More Than Mulberries's comment
I would love the Myers Gift Bag. I do love lemons very much but never tried Myers. As for a favorite fruit, I love them all but those that I receive as gifts or have grown in my garden or foraged. I have never won an internet giveaway- maybe this time?
to Kim Morrissey's comment
oops, I was interrupted mid-sentence – I should have written – as for a favorite fruit, I love them all but those that I receive as gifts or have grown in my garden or foraged I love best.
to Kim Morrissey's comment
Hello! I love cherries best of all. :-)
to Janet Anderson's comment
Thanks for the great posts. You are such an inspiration to me—my current blog crush.
I love lemons too, but not as much as my 6 year old, Lillian.
to Kirsten Serrano's comment
That’s a hard, hard choice. Fruit is so good. Especially when perfectly in season. Grapes, cherries, berries are some of my favorite. I’d think apple and tomato among the most versatile. I’d love to have some fresh lemons!
to Jerilee Costa's comment
Love your posts, I have been reading everyday. I’m in California & didn’t know specifics about citrus, We planted a Eureka Lemon because the name struck a historical, gold rush, cord with us. Our tree has done well but we would love to add a Meyer.
Wish the lemon ladies were closer to our home base so we could visit.
to Margaret's comment
I love lemons but have never had the pleasure of trying a Meyer lemon! I don’t know that I have a favorite fruit — I just love anything just picked and flavorful.
to Gail E's comment