When Life Gives You Lemons… You Can Juice
Philip was given some lemons just before we left for Kentucky. I didn’t have time while I was preparing to leave on our trip, so we brought them along to juice.
Join Me as I Juice These Lemons Old School
Using a simple hand juicer, I easily juiced the lemons. It takes a bit of elbow grease, but the task is simple. I strained out the seeds and pulp. Straining the pulp is simple preference, it does add fiber to the juice to make it an even healthier option.
I juiced 16 large lemons for a total of 8 cups of fresh lemon juice.
Beefing Up the Compost
After juicing the lemons, I took the rinds, seeds and extra pulp down to the compost pile near the garden. Ideally I should have cut up the rinds, but since this will compost over long term, I did not bother with that. Citrus is fine in the compost pile though not in excessive amounts.
I will freeze the juice for now until we travel home. For long term storage I will can the juice to make it shelf stable.
Canning the Juice for Storage
We’ve since returned home and I discovered that canning lemon juice is super easy. I canned 7 half pints in the water bath canner processing only 5 minutes. It takes longer to sterile the jars and wait on the water to boil then it does to process the jars. Its very important to always follow proper canning guidelines to ensure that the products canned will remain safe for use. As I sit here, typing this, I hear the sounds of jars sealing with a “ping”.
I didn’t have enough to fill the last jar, so Philip enjoyed the last of the lemon juice in a glass of lemonade.
About the Author: Barbra-Sue Kowalski grew up on a small hobby farm. She was always drawn to farm life, however, she was stuck in an urban life far from her roots. Barbra-Sue was a single mom for 13 years, raising her 3 children on her own. She met Philip in 2018 and they married in 2021. Between the two of them, they have 5 grown children and 5 grandchildren. These empty nesters are following their dreams! As they both turn 50, they are building their off-grid homestead to live the life that they dream about. Learn more about Philip and Barbra-Sue here. Contact them here. To leave a comment on this post, please scroll down.
Pin This Image to Help Us Grow
Check out this exciting winter phenomenon of the woods of Kentucky.
