The Meyer lemon (Citrus × meyeri) is a citrus fruit, native to China, thought to be a cross between a true lemon and a mandarin orange or sweet orange. The Meyer lemon was introduced to the United States in 1908 as S.P.I. #23028, by the agricultural explorer Frank Meyer, an employee of the United States Department of Agriculture who collected a sample of the plant on a trip to China. It is commonly grown in China potted as an ornamental plant. It became popular as a food item in the United States after being rediscovered by chefs, such as Alice Waters at Chez Panisse, during the California Cuisine revolution. The Meyer lemon is also known as the Valley lemon in southern Texas due to its popularity in the Rio Grande Valley region.
Here are the ones we bought this morning at the farmer's market. It seems that this is the prime time for them here in Texas and that they are a some what freeze resistant variety of citrus. These are grown in a near by town by a man who has only one tree. I have been buying from him for several weeks now. I plan to buy my own tree and keep in in a large pot.
13 comments:
Oooh. Those are pretty. I haven't seen any of those at the Farmer's Market in Santa Fe. Bet it's too cold here to grow them. Somebody told me recently (a blogger from Texas too) that they were making a lemon pie with fresh Meyer Lemons. Now that sounded good. ;-)
what takes santa fe out of the picture for meyers is not the cold, they actually handle that quite well, but the elevation. most citrus, but lemons especially do better at the lower elevations. if you're planning on meyers in a pot i would suggest a dwarf variety tree. they do great in pots and the yield to resources ratio is dramatic.
Citrus. That word is music to my Floridian ears...
Have you ever tried Calamondin? I might have spelled it wrong,I only know the Filipino name for it. They look like tiny tangerines and they're very tart. Yummmy. They can aso be grown in pots.
I love Meyer lemons, too, and hate to settle for regular ones when they are not in season. Nothing compares.
We're well-stocked for Christmas goodies now.
I also plan to buy one in a large pot soon. That will be absolute bliss.
Good grief. I wish I'd known they were freeze resistant and I would have had a couple of those here for several years.
I'm trying to remember the coldest day we've had since I've lived in Austin. I'm thinking around mid-teens. If they could take Santa Fe temps (aside from the elevation), they should do fine here.
I want a couple! I have two large pots ready to go.
I will probably buy mine at It's About Thyme in Manchaca. They had some a couple of months ago but were treating them for a greenhouse malady. I am sure they are OK now. The ones I have been getting at the farmer's market are from Smithville and the guy says he has his tree in the ground.
Just for fun, I put some seeds in the pot with my kaffir lime and will be very surprised if they come up. I understand that it will take at least 4 years for them to make fruit if they do.
I sm checking out Calamondin. I have never heard of it.
Kona, in case you are interested, olive trees grow here as well and you can get them at Bella Vista Vinyards near Wimberly.
They look delicious. I can't wait to see a photo of them on the tree.
Mmmm, lemonade..
Thankyou! (For history of them); I have been lurking and looking for meyer lemons in the market I frequent, but to no avail, they sound delicious.
I use a lot of fresh lime (squeezed) on the salads I make with a little olive oil. I am thinking this lemon is worth finding.
I am also thinking that tequila and lemon would be rather nice new years eve.
Just one. :)
Pam
Is there anything better than cutting a ripe lemon in two and sucking on one half?
my son would near kill for one of those plants. I wonder if they would do well in a CT home?
Hi Stewart, There probably is but this is not an XXX blog so we won't go into it here.
Pool,I'm not an expert but I don't see why one would not live as a house plant in CT. I won't even try to guess whether or not it would fruit. I have seen websites where they can be ordered.
dwarf meyer lemon trees
i have several trees from these guys here at the condo digs. they do great in pots, if the weather turns too cold they can be brought inside. it's a damned near perfect arrangement.
also, planting citrus from seeds won't work. almost all citrus is grown from grafted stock.
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