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Friday 12 July 2013

In the pink.....

My little brunette wider faced girl has been helping me around the garden.  This morning we picked up all the lemons which had fallen from the tree whilst we've been away.  Quite a few of them have seen better days, having laid in the sun on the floor for goodness knows how long!  Unless they appear any good for juicing, they'll go in the bin, and some are badly bruised from when they 'splatted' to the floor from the tree, but there are quite a lot which are unharmed, so they'll be used for various things......at some point!!!!  To be honest, we have far too many lemons to think what to do with them all....I really need to be more adventurous and find more recipes which use lemons as one of the ingredients!!!

We also picked some nectarines as they are ripe and ready to eat....I'll probably have those for my supper this evening.  And the grape vine is absolutely ladden down with bunches of grapes!  They're not ripe yet but I'd say in about two/three weeks, if the wasps don't get them first, we can pick them!  We were told by a neighbour that we'd probably not get much fruit this year because of the snow back in February, but it is nice that she was proved wrong!


And these are just the ones from the floor....the tree is still full of fruit in various stages of their growth!







9 comments:

  1. I'm reminded of the book 'Driving over lemons' - which is set not too far from you.
    Do you make wine with the grapes?
    A few years ago we were in Cyprus and the abundance of fruit growing there made me think of what the Garden of Eden must have been like - I imagine your place is similar! Although the expats we spoke to there found it quite a problem to use all the fruit they grew.
    As for your lemons, do you make marmalade or chutney? (I have a recipe for the latter if you'd like it)

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    1. That's right! I read that book and the other one "Parrot in the Pepper Tree" not long before we came to live here in Spain, and really enjoyed them. The funny thing is, even after more than 9 years, we still are in 'awe' of having trees growing in our garden with oranges and lemons! We are always so hesitant to pick them from the tree, saying that we'll just use the ones that fall first! It is really quite funny as the streets are lined with lemon and orange trees and the town hall have to sweep up the oranges from the ground later in the year as people don't bother with them! (They are the sharp Seville oranges which in the UK are used to make marmalade!)
      And yes, that's the problem, what to do with it all! Last year we wasted sooooo many grapes because we had so many, it's not like you can give them away because most people have the same!
      I'd really be interested in the recipe for chutney in particular, although marmalade would be interesting too.....although we did try last Christmas to make marmalade but couldn't get it to set! Is it pectin that you use? I couldn't get that here so tried making it without!

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  2. What a sweety she is! I love her in pink - funny thing, I never liked wearing pink, rarely dressed my daughter in pink and now I really love it, especially for brunette Sashas!
    How wonderful to be able to pick up lemons - just paid £2.80 for three in Somerfield supermarket. It is 84F here today so I feel as though we should have a lemon tree but it wouldn't survive into October if we did. Still, apples, strawberries, raspberries, cherries, plums, gooseberries, blue berries, black currants and blackberries are beginning to show possible crops, so I must count my blessings.
    Enjoy your crop!
    Jenni

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    1. Thanks so much Jenni, I really like her in pink too now that I've tried it. I have never really been a 'pink' person but funnily enough, pale baby pink seems to suit me! I was the same with brown, I never used to like brown and beige, thinking they were 'boring' colours, but now I really quite like them!
      I heard that lemons were expensive in the UK, my mum usually takes some home with her when she comes over to visit. People tell us that they're the nicest lemons they've tasted!! I guess it's just that they've come straight off the tree and then to the UK in my mums handbag! Plus we don't spray them or anything so you get free bird poos with ours LOL!
      I do have a very small apple tree which one year produced 13 apples!!! But we've not tried any other soft fruits like yours.....lovely! OOoooh gooseberries! I bet you even have rhubarb! Oh I just remembered that I have a rhubarb and custard crumble in the freezer that I got in Iceland at Fuengirola! That will have to do then!!
      I think you should definitely count your blessings, because that is a bumper list of lovely fruit you have there!!! Oooooh just spotted blackberries....blackberry and apple pie....stop it now Jenni, you're making me crave things I can't have!! ;)

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    2. No rhubarb! I grew up in Yorkshire, in the famous 'rhubarb triangle' and love the stuff. Oddly, though our neighbours all grow it in abundance and it is usually so very easy to grow, it just sits and sulks on our land. (DH seems to be doing the same this morning, LOL.)
      One reason I wish we could grow lemons is that we keep hens and have a glut of eggs just now - just imagine all the lemon curd I could make... Maybe your lemons taste better than shop bought ones here because importers coat the skin to keep the lemons that pale yellow people expect and it seems to ruin the rind. A few blemishes would be better than shiny wax in my opinion! When I used to visit family in Spain regularly, I loved the fact that taste of fruit and veg was more important to shop-keepers than the look. Here, especially in supermarkets, everything has to be a uniform shape and size. We decided against getting involved in various 'sales to supermarkets only' farm schemes because of the waste - they will junk all your crop if it isn't the 'right' shape/size, regardless of the taste. Mad!

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  3. Great hearing how the other half live.

    I never like wasting food so it's a pity that everything seems to come all at once instead of spreading the crop over time.
    Are you able to make some lemonade with the lemons? I'm not sure just how one goes about it but I often slice one up and put it into a Pyrex jug and add some sugar before pouring boiling water over it and then pop it into the fridge to cool. It makes a refreshing drink during the Summer. (You can add more sugar and pour the boiling water over it several times as you drink it up.)

    Your little brunette looks a poppet in pink.

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    1. Thank you Kendal, glad you like her in her pink outfit!
      I have made lemonade before and lemon tart, both nice, but I need to be more adventurous....I've still not sorted out the lemons, have been too busy cleaning!!! I like that simple method you use though, I might try that. We do use the lemons sliced in our drinks...I like my Coke Zero with a slice and hubby likes his Tonic with one too. We are such BIG drinkers, don't you think!!! NOT!

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  4. Love your girl in pink. As you know it's my favourite colour. lol
    I thought cooking apples were used as a source of pectin. I've made tiny batches, ie 2 jars, using this method. It worked fine, but no idea how that translates to a larger quantity. Guess I'm not much help, especially as I don't do any cooking these days. ggg
    We love Spanish fruit and veg and their chicken is delicious! Haven't been over there for a long time now.
    Hope you find a great way with lemons because that's quite a haul.

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    1. Thanks Valli...and yes, I certainly know about your love of pink! LOL
      I have no idea on the cooking apples, but we can't get them here, well not locally anyway. I'm sure that down on the coast there will be a Brit shop that has them. I too love the Spanish fruit, especially cherries and watermelon....which reminds me, I have half a watermelon in the fringe, must eat it or it'll go off!!! Fruit and veg is very cheap and plentiful here and usually has a great taste, and the great thing is, the season for certain stuff is much longer than it is in the UK...which is good!

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