Giant Lemons Rain Down on California Homeowner!
I have two lemon trees and an orange tree in the back yard along the fence.
The regular lemon tree has grown 5 feet above the fence, almost dwarfing the orange tree next to it, which in turn dwarfs the Meyer lemon next to it.
A few years ago we notice an unusual phenomenon with the regular lemon tree. First of all twice a year we could hardly keep up with the abundant fruit on the tree, and I use a LOT of lemons. We gave many away to family and friends, and i froze some of the juice and made lemonade and lots of our favorite salad dressing.
But what we notices was that at the very top of the tree, the lemons grew to be the size and shape of Pomelos (or large grapefruit)! They have the same thick, thick skin, and a tiny fruit inside. The flavor is not the same as the regular lemons.. a little less tart and less juicy! Sometimes they fall off before we have a chance to grab them.
From the height of the fence and above, we seem to have a Jack and the Beanstalk type of tree. No one could really explain what was going on, since all the lemons below were perfectly normal.
You can see in the photo there are about 4 huddled next to each other, haughtily looking down at the tinier lemons with sour sneers.
Last year, J was pruning the tree and he noticed that the giant lemons seemed to be growing on much thicker and thornier stalks that grew from the bottom or the tree. It seems that maybe these are suckers producing the hefty fruits.??
If the tree had been grafted I assume all the lemons would have been the same size. Weird, but the kids love them. J's younger daughter took one to school for show and tell... actually it was show and GUESS!
On this mild summer day, what better way to use some of the lemon juice than to dress one of my all-time favorite salads that I invented to get the kids to eat Broccoli! It also gets some cider vinegar in our diet (huge health benefits).
Recipe
- 6 c. Trader Joe's organic Broccoli Slaw, or 4 cups chopped up organic Broccoli and 2 c. shredded carrots
- 1 c. organic Parsley, finely chopped
Dressing
- 1 large or 2 medium organic Garlic cloves, mashed in mortar and pestle with 1/2 tsp. Sea Salt
- 3-1/2 Tbs. Vegenaise
- 1-1/2 Tbs. Bragg's Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1 Tbs. Lemon Juice
- 1/4 tsp. Black Pepper
- 1/2 tsp. Celery Seed (or you can add 1/2 c. fresh Celery, chopped
Combine veggies in a large bowl. (I chop the TJ mix a little so the pieces aren't so long and unwieldy.)
In a small bowl combing dressing ingredients, whisking until well combined. Taste and adjust seasoning.
Pour over veggies and toss to coat.
Note: This is a light dressing, not meant to look like the thicker Slaw dressing we're used to.
~ Bon Apetit! ♥