Making Water Out of Lemons

The Townhouse gardens maybe small, but we have a lot of citrus, which begs the question, "What do you do with the extra citrus?"...

The Townhouse gardens maybe small, but we have a lot of citrus, which begs the question, "What do you do with the extra citrus?"

One option is freezing slices to use later in drinks, or as a friend recently did, share a bag of lemons...

These lemons will end up in drinks, so a nice wash is a good idea.


Years ago I worked for a USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) Lab in Riverside. The lab was researching thrips and their spread within citrus groves. Part of my job was driving to a grove in Ventura and picking lemons. I would then take the crates to a citrus packing plant on the campus of the University of California Riverside. At the plant we would wash the citrus. The washing removes any natural wax or coatings on the fruit, so the last part of the process is to reapply a wax to the fruit.

Many of the fruits and vegetables you buy at a grocery store are waxed to extend the shelf life and change the appearance. Not biting through that coating is one of the advantages of growing your own produce. A disadvantage: It will not last as long off the plant, so use it or preserve it, is my mantra.

So back to preserving these lemons....

Slice the ends off. The ends can be frozen to use later, such as when you need lemon zest in a recipe.


These were large lemons, so I cut the cores into eights.

The pieces were then bagged, labeled and frozen.

The frozen pieces make great supplements to your summer drinks, not only as additional ice cubes, but also as a refreshing flavor.