Lemon Marmalade

A friend of mine has the most magnificent lemon tree, which is heavily weighed down with an abundance of delicious juicy lemons & I love lemon marmalade. So today I made some. This is a very easy recipe & you will love the lemony smell wafting through your house, I promise.

 

Lemon Marmalade

Ingredients:

• 1 kg lemons
• 1 kg sugar
• 7 cups water

Method

1. Halve/quarter the lemons length way.
2. Cut into thin slices (I use a food processor, much quicker).
3. Soak the cut lemons overnight with the water, keep them covered.
4. Transfer the mixture into a large pan.
5. Bring to the boil & then simmer, covered, for about 40 minutes, or until the rind is soft.
6. Add the sugar: stir over heat until the sugar is dissolved.
7. Bring to the boil & then boil, uncovered, for about 30 minutes, or until the marmalade jells when tested.
8. Pour into hot sterilised jars & seal.
9. Makes about 6 cups. 

The Eucalyptus Ficifolia - A Survivor!

This is an update to my previous blog post about my favourite tree falling down (July 2009). If you look back at the photos, my tree looked pretty much dead & gone. But, look at it now!

We were just devastated by its "loss". However, luckily for us, we were too lazy at the time to cut it up for firewood - because it has continued to live! It still flowers even though it's lying on its side, & it continues to grow new branches. I cannot believe our good fortune.

The root system had just bent with the tree & there is still enough soil over the roots to protect it. It even survived last summer really well in this condition as the photos show. The dogs quite like to shade in it, can't say that I blame them as the flowers are beautiful.

We have planted out the same species en masse along our neighbours fence line to create more privacy, & the majority of those ones appear to be surviving quite well, even with the drought & water restrictions. One day, a full row of them in full bloom will be a sight to see.

A new start.

I can feel spring tip toeing nearer, the days seem brighter & a bit more cheery. The grass is green, the bulbs are coming out. It all gives me hope of a brillaint new future, all sparkly & bright. So, to celebrate, I started a little herb garden yesterday, borrowed heavily from my gorgeous and inspirational friend Libby. She is always upbeat, funny, quirky and she lives her life to the full. I've learned a lot from her.

So to plagiarise her life a bit, I have replicated her herb pot. In the middle is a bay leaf tree, and surrounding that is coriander, parsley, mint & basil. It all looks so pretty and fresh, and I'm not sure that I won't kill it all off, but at this point I feel almost positive that I won't

My beautiful ex-tree

My day was totally ruined yesterday by the untimely upending of my most favourite tree in the world. It was a Eucalyptus Ficifolia, and is pretty hard to grow in this part of Australia, due to cold temperatures in winter, with many frosts.

This was it last summer - isn't it just glorious. Each Autumn we do a mass plant out of about 20 of these, with usually about 5 surviving each time, so at least we have more, but they are still small, and will have quite a few years to get to the brilliance of this one.

Unfortunately, this is my tree today. We had huge winds here yesterday, and this was one of a few trees damaged, but unfortunately this one will not be able to be saved, as the roots are out. What a damn shame - it was indeed a beautiful tree.