Well, I'm kinda cheating for this Harvest Monday, those lemons are not from my garden, but I did get to harvest them myself, well, my husband and a couple of friends helped also. We were allowed to harvest as much as we liked from a private citrus grove just down the valley. Not all the trees had labels left on them, but we were able to identify some trees as Eureka and some as Lisbon, the rest were most likely Eureka and Lisbon as well, those are the most commonly grown *real* lemons around here. We all passed on the Meyer lemons since we have more than enough of our own.
So, just what were we doing with all those lemons? Notice the peelers? What's missing in the photo are the 4 or 5 liter mason jars and the bottles of 100 proof vodka. Still haven't figured it out? We had an impromptu Limoncello making party! Or rather, more of a Limocello making competition, there is a just a wee bit of competitiveness in this group. So the clear winner of the *handiest with the peeler* award had an unfair advantage, he's the only professional chef in the group. We should have handicapped him with a dull peeler, but, he did get us a good deal on the vodka... Anyway, the real competition will be 80 days or so from now when we do a blind tasting of the final products.
So, that was the exciting part of the harvests this week, here's the rest:
Cutting Celery - 10 oz.
Fava leaves - 3.75 oz.
Red "Scallions" (overgrown) - 1 lb., 5.75 oz.
Green Garlic - 5 oz.
Red Florence Fennel - 6.75 oz.
Total last week - 47.25 oz. or 3 lb. 15.25 oz.
Total this year - 34 lb.
Eggs last week - 13
Daphne is hosting Harvest Monday on her blog Daphne's Dandelions, head on over there if you would like to be inspired by other garden bloggers' harvests.
I'd love to hear how the limoncello turns out. I made a sorbet with it last year and it was a hit.
ReplyDeleteThat rest of the harvest sounds good too!
I've even heard of that intoxicating sounding concoction. However, it sounds worth making!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a fun party.
ReplyDeleteMy overwintered scallions are getting pretty big also, not many left only few to last for another couple weeks or so.
Home made limoncello, wow! What a great idea. I have an overflow of both Eureka and Meyer lemons, better go get myself some vodka...
ReplyDeleteAll those lemons look lovely. Lucky you! I'm looking forward to hearing how the limoncello tastes.
ReplyDeleteMaybe I should try to find a Meyer lemon tree (I assume they are hardier) because my little lemon tree looks very sad now, I don't think it's survived the winter.
Limoncello - this brings memories...
ReplyDelete4 years ago I was in Sorrento (south Italy) enjoying limoncello making contest as well.
Unfortunately, I did not taste it; I was too busy eating fresh made mozzarella. :-)
That sounds like a fun way to do it. Have a party while making it all. So did you imbibe while peeling too? I can see lemonade and vodka as the drink of the party. Maybe not as good as what you were making though.
ReplyDeleteVillager, I'll be sure to report back when we get to taste it! One of our limoncello imbibing friends likes to pour limoncello over lemon sorbet. I haven't tried that yet.
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Ottawa Gardener,
It is worth the time and effort. Even my husband loves it and he's not much of a citrus zest fan.
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Mac, the old scallions are also bolting, but I just pull out the hard cord and use the rest, it's ok. It was a fun party and it's not over yet.... we still have to taste test.
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Angela,
Get that peeler out and have some fun! Eureka lemons make great limoncello. Some people like it made with Meyers, but the last time this group made limoncello there was one batch made with Meyers and it turned out to be the least favorite. Actually, I don't like it at all, it has something of a cough syrup quality to it.
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chaiselongue, We were lucky to find such a good source of local lemons. The orchard owner is going to get a few bottles of limoncello as a thank you gift. I'm not sure that Meyer lemons are much hardier than other lemon trees, a young Meyer tree probably would have been just a challenged by the winter that you've been having. But they are a lovely lemon and worth growing in addition to a regular lemon.
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vrtlarica, My husband and I first tasted limoncello on the Amalfi coast. We brought a couple of bottles home, and just about the time that we nearing the bottom of the last bottle I found a recipe in the newspaper. Oh, you're right about that mozzarella, it's so good there, so fresh. Yum.
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Daphne, We were busy imbibing our other favorite beverage, wine! However, we ended the party some of the limoncello that we made last year with this group. And those who wanted it got a quart container of fresh squeezed lemon juice to take home. There's another few quarts of lemon juice sitting in my freezer now, actually, I froze it in portions to make batches of lemonade.
Sounds like fun. I have limoncello base in the basement. I should probably strain it now. Erk.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a really fun day.
What a fun way to spend some time! The lemons look heavenly and I bet the limoncello will be a great success once it's aged the 80 days.
ReplyDeleteYou've put my solitary lemon to shame. hahaha...I wish I had a lemon grove near by!
ReplyDeleteStefaneener, just one more thing to add to your busy schedule. I've found that limoncello is pretty forgiving about when you get around to straining it, so I would put that way down the priority list if I were you.
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kitsapFG, It was fun and the kitchen was filled with a wonderful aroma of lemon zest.
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Thomas, I couldn't put your solitary lemon to shame, you're growing it under adverse conditions and doing an admirable job of it. But I have to admit that it was great fun to get to harvest so many luscious lemons so easily.