Here is the recipe for my morel sauce.
Lemon Mussels Gremolata Recipe
Homegrown Lemon is Great with Seafood
If you are growing a lemon tree indoors and wondering what you will do with your homegrown lemons, here’s a recipe I love and included in my book Grow Lemons Where You Think You Can’t: Lemon Mussels Gremolata.
Thanks to author, storyteller, and chef Signe Langford for sharing this recipe.
Looking for More Lemon Ideas?
For more recipes and information about growing potted lemon trees in cold climates, go to the Lemon Home Page.
Here’s another lemon recipe: Meyer Lemon Sorbet.
Grow Lemons: A Perfect Patio Plant in Northern gardens
Lemon trees are more cold-tolerant than many people realize, which makes them an ideal potted plant for decks, patios, balconies, and gardens in northern climates. That’s because the cold-tolerance means there are many ways to overwinter lemon trees.
You don’t need a greenhouse or a bright south-facing window indoors!
As well as the fruit, if you grow lemon you will get deliciously fragrant flowers and very aromatic leaves that you can use to flavour all sorts of dishes (I love wrapping lemon leaves around a firm cheese and grilling on the BBQ!)
Read about why lemons are a great choice for northern gardens
6 Reasons to Grow a Lemon Tree in a Cold Climate
Read about how cold lemon trees can get over the winter
Find out more about my book Grow Lemons Where You Think You Can’t
How to Grow a Potted Lemon Tree (That Actually Fruits!)
If you want to grow a potted lemon tree (that actually fruits) in a cold climate, below are a couple more resources to help you on your journey. I grow lemons and other citrus here, in Toronto, Canada. (My oldest potted lemon tree is from 1967!)
Book: How to Grow a Lemon Tree in a Cold Climate
Grow Lemons Where You Think You Can't
Covering everything from lemon varieties, to location and watering, to pruning and shaping, to overwintering, dealing with pests, and more—and including insights from fellow citrus enthusiasts—this book will give you the confidence you need to grow and harvest fresh lemons in cold climates.
Quantity:
Self-Paced Online Class About How to Grow a Lemon Tree in a Cold Climate
Find Out How to Grow Your Own Lemons
Harvest more lemons this year. Grow Lemons in Cold Climates Masterclass shows you how to grow a lemon tree in a pot or outside with protection. And get lemons!
What to do with Pumpkins After Halloween (and a Pumpkin Recipe!)
By Steven Biggs
Cook (or Compost) Your Pumpkins Too!
The first pumpkin is carved for Halloween this year; the kids had a pumpkin-carving get-together with friends over the weekend. That only leaves three giant pumpkins, four pie pumpkins, a warty pumpkin, a Jamaican pumpkin, a Turk’s turban squash, a blue hubbard squash, and an elongated pinkish pumpkin. Guess what we’re doing tomorrow!
We’ve hit a pumpkin-carving crescendo this year. The kids are the right age to design and carve. I love it as much as my they do. (To my imagination that blue hubbard squash looks a bit like a turkey in a roasting pan…)
Did we go overboard with so many pumpkins and squash? No.
Pumpkins make their way into our kitchen, or into our soil. We eat them or compost them.
Pumpkin Muffins
Nana Biggs’ pumpkin muffin recipe. (I usually cut the sugar in half and add raisins and nuts.)
One of Nana Biggs’ favourite recipes was pumpkin muffins. I remember as a kid taking my jack-o-lantern there the day after Halloween so that Nana could roast it.
(My Uncle Bill didn’t agree with my giving Nana all of that pumpkin as he didn’t care for the supply of muffins encouraged by it. I never let him forget that. One fall after I had moved away from home, I roasted a jack-o-lantern, baked a giant, six-inch-wide muffin, and sent it to Uncle Bill by courier.)
My kids all like pumpkin muffins, so Nana would be pleased. They love roasted pumpkin seeds too. (A bit of oil, salt, and garlic powder makes a mean roasted pumpkin seed, in my opinion.)
Last year, my wife, Shelley, spent a whole day roasting various pumpkins and squash, and made a series of pies, using different proportions of each. We got to taste-test them all. There were lots more that went into the freezer. We just ate the last one yesterday.
Watch Your Jack-O-Lanterns!
In my daughter Emma’s book, Gardening with Emma, she tells kids how pumpkins in the garden start to sag, and then become spots on the soil by spring.
You must be wondering if we’ll eat all of those pumpkins on our front porch this year. We’ll use the pie pumpkins first, as they have a less watery, more flavourful flesh.
What doesn’t go into pumpkin pies, muffins, and soups feeds the soil. My daugher Emma shares this idea in her book Gardening with Emma.
Sometimes we put our jack-o-lanterns in the compost pile. But what’s really fun is watching them slowly melt into the soil.
Each one ages differently!
Gardening with Emma
Written for kids by a kid, this guide helps kids see the fun side of gardening, whether it’s growing giant vegetables, making a bug vacuum, or making a sound-themed garden.
Emma shares lots of inspiring ideas for young gardeners about how to grow healthy food, raise cool plants, and have fun outdoors.
Copies from the Food Garden Life shop are signed by Emma!
Meyer Lemon Sorbet Recipe
By Steven Biggs
Meyer Lemon Zest is a Big Part of this Sorbet
If you are growing a Meyer lemon tree and are wondering what to make so that you can enjoy the unique flavour of Meyer lemons, here’s a recipe I love: Meyer Lemon Sorbet.
I included this family favourite in my book Grow Lemons Where You Think You Can’t: We make it using our own homegrown lemons.
Looking for More Lemon Ideas?
For more recipes and information about growing potted lemon trees in cold climates, go to the Lemon Home Page.
Here’s another lemon recipe: Mussels Gremolata with Lemon.
How to Grow a Potted Lemon Tree (That Actually Fruits!)
If you want to grow a potted lemon tree (that actually fruits) in a cold climate, below are a couple more resources to help you on your journey. I grow lemons and other citrus here, in Toronto, Canada. (My oldest potted lemon tree is from 1967!)
Book: How to Grow a Lemon Tree in a Cold Climate
Grow Lemons Where You Think You Can't
Covering everything from lemon varieties, to location and watering, to pruning and shaping, to overwintering, dealing with pests, and more—and including insights from fellow citrus enthusiasts—this book will give you the confidence you need to grow and harvest fresh lemons in cold climates.
Quantity:
Self-Paced Online Class About How to Grow a Lemon Tree in a Cold Climate
Find Out How to Grow Your Own Lemons
Harvest more lemons this year. Grow Lemons in Cold Climates Masterclass shows you how to grow a lemon tree in a pot or outside with protection. And get lemons!