Lemons

At Country Matters not only do we have a good selection of local produce we generally have lemons.  Lemons are versatile and can be used in baking, preserves, cooking, cleaning and of course in your gin and tonic.  You can use the juice and the zest.

What do you do with yours?

Here are some fun things about lemons

• Lemons will stay fresh in the refrigerator for up to 6 weeks and at room temperature for 2 weeks, so always worth having one in.
• They are high in vitamin C
• An average lemon holds three tablespoons of juice.
• Lemon juice and hot water is good for a sore throat as it is anti-bacterial, mix with honey when you have a cold.
• The high acidity of lemons make them good cleaning aids.
• Historians believe that lemons have been around since first century AD
• Lemon trees can produce up to 600 pounds in a year, can grow up to 20 feet tall and produce fruit all year round.
• The juice of a lemon contains 5% of citric acid.
• Sprinkling the juice on other fruits can prevent them turning brown.
• During the California Gold Rush in 1849, miners were willing to pay huge amounts of money for a single lemon.
• Wealthy Victorians grew lemons trees in their homes as a sign of prestige and to be a fragrant.
• Christopher Columbus took lemon seeds with him to America’s in 1493.
• Lemons used to be so rare that kings used to present them to each other as gifts.
• Lemons contain more potassium than apples or grapes.
• The lemon is a wonderful stimulant to the liver and is a dissolvent of uric acid and other poisons and also liquefies the bile.
• Lemon has many anti-cancer compounds which may kill cancer cells.