In article ,
"David Hare-Scott" wrote:

Rick wrote:
On Sat, 23 Feb 2013 14:47:30 +1100, "David Hare-Scott"
wrote:

David, those were lemons you were trying to preserve awhile back,
weren't they? How'd you ever make out with them?
I'm on my way back to zesting and juicing.


Billy wrote:
Started germinating early this year. The seeds are at least 3 - 5
years old, and were stored in the refrigerator. The peas came on so
fast that I need to find my soil thermometer to see how close I am
to transplant, or re-pot. I almost totally lost a few lettuce
potting cells to neglect, but they have bounced back with watering.
Brandywine, Green Zebra, and Stupice tomatoes, squash, and cucumbers
have shown themselves from last Sundays planting. The peppers,
typically, will take another week to show.

I may have walked myself out on a limb with germinating so soon, but
as we all know, there aren't any mistakes, just experiments.

Week-end work: prepping the lettuce bed, and replacing a Washington
orange tree that hasn't even flowered in the last 5 years, and
replacing it with an apricot. Maybe I can pot the orange and see if
that works.

In any event, the jihad begins.

I am starting my winter stuff next week. The summer veges are still
producing well. I will have to give away beans this week.

We have had heavy rain, a torrent was running through the garden and
it's on a hillside! As of this morning up north a bit at a little
place called Dorrigo they had had 393mm of rain in 24 hours, that's
15 1/2 inches for those who use ells, fathoms and other archaic
measures. My river is flooding, where I pump water from is about 8m
(17 cubits) under, the pump is of course in the shed, the ends of
the pipes will be floating through the tops of the trees.

D

I've seen a lot of "pro-metric" posts in various places lately. Being
a scientist I readily convert back and forth. Still I have a fondness
for pecks, bushels, quarts and pints etc. I'd rather have a pint of
beer than 475 mls (well OK a pint is only 473.176473 ml) g. When
cooking it's cups and teaspoons for me- at the bench, grams and
microliters...

It is no problem for me to convert either. I suspect that all countries,
including those where metric has been well adopted, keep remnants of
traditional measures in odd places. Here real estate is almost always
measured in acres as well as hectares but rods, poles and perches have gone
for good unless you are consulting old plans. My daughters who grew up on
metric have no problem knowing what is meant if somebody says 'about an
inch' or 'a foot' and they might occasionally use such themselves. I agree
that beer should be served in a named vessel, whether it be middy, pint,
schooner, jug, pot or whatever. I see no reason to abandon such quirks but
that has nothing much to do communicating things like rainfall.

Where I have the problem is those who can't be bothered to learn _anything_
about metric measure and who, on international forums, act as if metric
measure is some kind of weird thing used only by the minority and geeks,
when the reality is the reverse.

But back to gardens, the flood is gone and the veges have drained, the fig
tree is now out of the river and the sun is shining. I will go down after
breakfast and see if my irrigation pipes were fastened as strongly as I
wanted. The grass will leap out of the ground this week and all is right
with the world.

David

--
Welcome to the New America.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hA736oK9FPg
or
E Pluribus Unum
Next time vote Green Party

Billy wrote:
In article ,
"David Hare-Scott" wrote:

Rick wrote:
On Sat, 23 Feb 2013 14:47:30 +1100, "David Hare-Scott"
wrote:

David, those were lemons you were trying to preserve awhile back,
weren't they? How'd you ever make out with them?
I'm on my way back to zesting and juicing.


I used several ways:

- Morrocan preserved lemons these are really nice as a garnish but you only
need one jar a year so it doesn't use up many;

- frozen juice cubes and frozen zest sausages, roll the zest in plastic film
and freeze, keeps for ages, open the end cut some off and re-seal;

- lemon cordial, I love this, lemonade at any time of year, so much more
flavour than the commercial stuff and cheap, the recipe is simple if you are
interested.

D

In article ,
"David Hare-Scott" wrote:

Billy wrote:
In article ,
"David Hare-Scott" wrote:

Rick wrote:
On Sat, 23 Feb 2013 14:47:30 +1100, "David Hare-Scott"
wrote:

David, those were lemons you were trying to preserve awhile back,
weren't they? How'd you ever make out with them?
I'm on my way back to zesting and juicing.


I used several ways:

- Morrocan preserved lemons these are really nice as a garnish but you only
need one jar a year so it doesn't use up many;

- frozen juice cubes and frozen zest sausages, roll the zest in plastic film
and freeze, keeps for ages, open the end cut some off and re-seal;

- lemon cordial, I love this, lemonade at any time of year, so much more
flavour than the commercial stuff and cheap, the recipe is simple if you are
interested.

D

Thanks, David. I looked at recipes for the above. I'm supposed to avoid
salt, which leaves out the very interesting Morrocan preserves, and I've
opted for limoncello, instead of the cordial, because only the "bottle
in use" has to be in the fridge. Otherwise, it's ice cubes, and frozen
zest, as you say. I'm a bit pressed to process the lemons (one 5 gallon
bucket), because I harvested 2 weeks ago, and I've already lost half a
dozen to mold. Another option I found for a few of the lemons is candied
lemon slices.

Candied Meyer Lemons

4 meyer lemons, sliced thin

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup water

Bring the sugar and water to a boil on the stove. Reduce heat to simmer
and drop in the lemon slices. Simmer for 15-20 minutes, until slices
turn translucent. Drain and cool on wax paper before storing in the
fridge.

Not sure what to do about the seeds. I'll just swallow them I suppose.

How have the frozen cubes of lemon juice worked out for you? Do they
stay separate, or do they eventually fuse into one giant blob? It would
be great to have them when the hot weather finally arrives, in about 4
months. My wife is already making plans for them, and some of the mint.

--
Welcome to the New America.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hA736oK9FPg
or
E Pluribus Unum
Next time vote Green Party

Billy wrote:
In article ,
"David Hare-Scott" wrote:

Billy wrote:
In article ,
"David Hare-Scott" wrote:

Rick wrote:
On Sat, 23 Feb 2013 14:47:30 +1100, "David Hare-Scott"
wrote:

David, those were lemons you were trying to preserve awhile back,
weren't they? How'd you ever make out with them?
I'm on my way back to zesting and juicing.


I used several ways:

- Morrocan preserved lemons these are really nice as a garnish but
you only need one jar a year so it doesn't use up many;

- frozen juice cubes and frozen zest sausages, roll the zest in
plastic film and freeze, keeps for ages, open the end cut some off
and re-seal;

- lemon cordial, I love this, lemonade at any time of year, so much
more flavour than the commercial stuff and cheap, the recipe is
simple if you are interested.

D

Thanks, David. I looked at recipes for the above. I'm supposed to
avoid salt, which leaves out the very interesting Morrocan preserves,
and I've opted for limoncello, instead of the cordial, because only
the "bottle in use" has to be in the fridge.

My cordial does not require refrigeration, the low pH of the juice and high
osmotic strength of the sugar allows it to keep indefinitely at room
temperature.

Wash and dry lemons. Zest them collecting only the yellow, then juice them.
Measure the juice into an enamel of SS pot large enough to hold the juice
and sugar. Add zest and bring to the boil. Add the same volume of sugar as
juice, return to the boil and boil gently 10 minutes stirring. Bottle hot
in clean dry bottles with a good lid, I use washed PET softdrink bottles.
The bottle in use doesn't require refrigeration either.

To serve add one finger to a tall glass with ice, fill with soda water,
stir, garnish with a fresh lemon slice if you like.


Otherwise, it's ice
cubes, and frozen zest, as you say. I'm a bit pressed to process the
lemons (one 5 gallon bucket), because I harvested 2 weeks ago, and
I've already lost half a dozen to mold. Another option I found for a
few of the lemons is candied lemon slices.

Candied Meyer Lemons

4 meyer lemons, sliced thin

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup water

Bring the sugar and water to a boil on the stove. Reduce heat to
simmer and drop in the lemon slices. Simmer for 15-20 minutes, until
slices turn translucent. Drain and cool on wax paper before storing
in the fridge.

Not sure what to do about the seeds. I'll just swallow them I suppose.

How have the frozen cubes of lemon juice worked out for you? Do they
stay separate, or do they eventually fuse into one giant blob?

They merge but are not difficult to separate.

It
would be great to have them when the hot weather finally arrives, in
about 4 months. My wife is already making plans for them, and some of
the mint.

David

In article ,
"David Hare-Scott" wrote:

Billy wrote:
In article ,
"David Hare-Scott" wrote:

Billy wrote:
In article ,
"David Hare-Scott" wrote:

Rick wrote:
On Sat, 23 Feb 2013 14:47:30 +1100, "David Hare-Scott"
wrote:

David, those were lemons you were trying to preserve awhile back,
weren't they? How'd you ever make out with them?
I'm on my way back to zesting and juicing.


I used several ways:

- Morrocan preserved lemons these are really nice as a garnish but
you only need one jar a year so it doesn't use up many;

- frozen juice cubes and frozen zest sausages, roll the zest in
plastic film and freeze, keeps for ages, open the end cut some off
and re-seal;

- lemon cordial, I love this, lemonade at any time of year, so much
more flavour than the commercial stuff and cheap, the recipe is
simple if you are interested.

D

Thanks, David. I looked at recipes for the above. I'm supposed to
avoid salt, which leaves out the very interesting Morrocan preserves,
and I've opted for limoncello, instead of the cordial, because only
the "bottle in use" has to be in the fridge.

My cordial does not require refrigeration, the low pH of the juice and high
osmotic strength of the sugar allows it to keep indefinitely at room
temperature.

Wash and dry lemons. Zest them collecting only the yellow, then juice them.
Measure the juice into an enamel of SS pot large enough to hold the juice
and sugar. Add zest and bring to the boil. Add the same volume of sugar as
juice, return to the boil and boil gently 10 minutes stirring. Bottle hot
in clean dry bottles with a good lid, I use washed PET softdrink bottles.
The bottle in use doesn't require refrigeration either.

Good to know. Thanks.

To serve add one finger to a tall glass with ice, fill with soda water,
stir, garnish with a fresh lemon slice if you like.


Otherwise, it's ice
cubes, and frozen zest, as you say. I'm a bit pressed to process the
lemons (one 5 gallon bucket), because I harvested 2 weeks ago, and
I've already lost half a dozen to mold. Another option I found for a
few of the lemons is candied lemon slices.

Candied Meyer Lemons

4 meyer lemons, sliced thin

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup water

Bring the sugar and water to a boil on the stove. Reduce heat to
simmer and drop in the lemon slices. Simmer for 15-20 minutes, until
slices turn translucent. Drain and cool on wax paper before storing
in the fridge.

Not sure what to do about the seeds. I'll just swallow them I suppose.

How have the frozen cubes of lemon juice worked out for you? Do they
stay separate, or do they eventually fuse into one giant blob?

They merge but are not difficult to separate.

It
would be great to have them when the hot weather finally arrives, in
about 4 months. My wife is already making plans for them, and some of
the mint.

David

--
Welcome to the New America.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hA736oK9FPg
or
E Pluribus Unum
Next time vote Green Party