When Life Gives You Green Lemons...

So I have this tiny lemon tree that is the closest thing to a vege garden I have at the moment. This tree is just about part of the family by now. I have Nurtured it, spoken to it and dreamt of delicious lemons and preventing scurvy. I am considering giving it some celebrity name reflecting its rise from humble origins against all odds.

 One day miss 2 comes along and being a helpful girl picks the unripe lemons and joyfully presents them to me. So now I'm in a quandary, what does one do with a bowl of unripe not very juicy lemons? After all the effort it seems a shame to dispose of them. After sitting looking pretty on the counter for a while I started to find uses for them.

1. zest- the zest although green is still full of lemony oils for cooking. I used it for my roast chicken

2. Table buffer- this is a long story but basically I had dulled the kitchen table while removing vivid with a magic sponge, and it having a waxy varnish I tried rubbing beeswax over it. realising I needed to melt the wax I cast around for something hot and ended

up microwaving a lemon for 20 seconds, wrapping it in a muslin an lightly buffing- did the trick(probably wouldn't do that on a heirloom table) It smelled good to. also discovered the microwaving releases more juice.

3. candied peel- the green looks very attractive when candied

somewhat encouraged I Googled green lemons and found a few more ideas to experiment with:

4. pickled, dried or preserved lemons

5. use in place of limes,I'm thinking cheesecake

6. seal in a bag with a banana peel to ripen (worth a try)

7. green limoncello

8. bleach stained dishes- just rub on and leave

9. Clean, disinfect and deodorise just about anything in the kitchen. Eliminate grease from messy surfaces. Sprinkle abrasive salt on a lemon half and run on gunky surfaces. Wipe clean with a soft towel. rub on limescale and rinse etc... anywhere you might use

vinegar I think you could use green lemon.

10. repel Ants, moths, roaches and cats with the peels. I stuck a lemon under my cats nose once and she flew straight in to the air in shock

11. beauty-soften feet and elbows with the pulp, whiten nails by rubbing with the skin, also as emergency deodorant and astringent wash

12. potpourri

I like the last idea the best as the dark green skin does look and smell great So now I am prepared for when the next batch of greenies inevitably comes in.