The old Meyer lemons have wicked wicked thorns. The newer cultivar “Improved Meyer” are supposedly thornless but I seen thorns on them too.
I have several lemons ripening currently on my indoor tree, a Ponderosa lemon. The fruits can become enormous, weighing up to several pounds, and are borne on plants only a couple feet high or less. Ponderosas, which apparently derive from an intergeneric/interspecific cross in the 19th century, are about as tart as conventional supermarket lemons but easier to grow in cold climates as a tubbed plant.
My tree may be a descendant of the famous tree in Danielson, CT at the Logee’s greenhouses, which is over 120 years old.
Wow, can’t believe I made it to 56 without knowing that. You really do learn something new every day here.
Meyer lemon meringue pie is Food of the Gods territory, just sayin’.
I’ve never had a Meyer lemon that was better than either a plain lemon or orange. I found them quite disappointing. They were less lemony than a lemon, but without any real orange-ness to make up for it.
Yes, it’s relevant to me. This tree is right outside my back door, and I tend to keep my doors open when the weather is nice. So I get to look at the tree and flowers and smell them throughout my apartment.
Just barely! These javelin-like projections are better described as spikes than thorns. “Javelin-like” may describe them even better still. See pic below.
No shit Sherlock! See close-up pic, from this web page on lemon tree thorns:
This tree here is a full tree, not shrubby at all. It is taller than the adjacent one-story apartments. It needs to be trimmed regularly when the branches grow over the roof, otherwise they will scrape and damage the shingles. The lower branches over the walkway need to be cut away too, lest an unobservant pedestrian bump into one and the javelin-thorns put an eye out. Seriously, this is a hazard.
These are mildly sour and moderately sweet, and good for eating. They are definitely lemonish and not at all orangish beyond the general citrus flavor that all citrus have.
I just checked out this thread, and now I’m getting ads from Michigan Bulb for, among other things, Meyer lemon trees.
(I have to keep my ads enabled or I can’t print address labels for my Amazon business.)
Meyer lemons are not ‘better than’ either. They are ‘different from’ either. Sometimes they are a better choice for certain things than either lemons or oranges depending on personal taste.
Right, but I can’t think of any place where I’d prefer a Meyer lemon to either a lemon or an orange.
So, your personal taste, then.
Every time I make this recipe I use regular lemons, but I do occasionally wonder if using Meyer lemons would make any difference…
Obviously! When did I say otherwise? I thought I was pretty clear it was to my personal taste. How could any opinion on food tastes be otherwise?
Ooohhhh yeah… that is what I call a citrus tree. Growing up in rural Puerto Rico in the 60s it was pretty common to have various citrus trees around that were not “commercial” cultivars… so yeah, by the time I was 5 I knew these formidable defenses. Let granddad pick the orange.
You will understand, of course, that I get a piece of the action on all purchases, right?
Right, this tree is better self-defended than the M-5 “Ultimate” Computer was.
Medieval orange salad. The oranges called for are not as sweet as modern varieties, so I usually make do with a mix of orange segments and lemon juice. Unless I can find Meyers, which work perfectly.
So does a Meyers lemon taste more like an orange or a lemon to you?
To me, it tastes like a lemon, only milder on the sour and moderately sweet. It doesn’t taste orangey at all.
Yes, same here (albeit less lemony than a lemon) . I wouldn’t think to use it as a sub for an orange, flavor-wise.
Like a sweet lemon. Which works great for the salad. Just segmented, with shredded mint leaves and salt.
Not for modern oranges, no.