How to Grow Lemons at Home

This post is part of our Inclusive Gardening series. 

Spring is here! But we all need to stay inside. I miss being outside this time of year and seeing things grow. So, to cheer myself up, I decided to grow some things in my kitchen. I remembered that early spring is a good time to get seeds ready to plant. I had some lemon seeds left over when I after I made lemonade. I saved them so I could grow a lemon tree.  

Harvesting Lemon Seeds 

You will need: 

• Lemon, medium sized 
• Knife 
• Cutting board 
• Juice strainer 
• Spoon or lemon juicer 
• Bowl 
• Towel 
• Small container 

To get the juice out of lemons, cut the lemon in half. The simplest way to get the juice out is the squeeze the halves between your hands over a bowl. But that leaves a lot of juice still in the lemon. Try is sticking a spoon into the middle of the lemon and slowly twist the lemon around the spoon. Or you can use a plastic or glass lemon juicer. 

Put the strainer over a bowl.  Pour the juice into the strainer to save it for lemonade.  Rinse and dry the seeds off with a towel.  Put them in a container or on a paper towel where they can lay in one layer. In three or four days, they will be dry enough to put them in an envelope to plant later. 

Want to make Lemonade? 

You will need: 

• A glass 
• A spoon for stirring 
• Measuring spoons 
• A measuring cup 
• Lemon juice 
• Sugar 
• Water 
• Ice cubes 

Put 2 tablespoons of the lemon juice in a glass. Add 3⁄4 of a cup of water and a tablespoon of sugar. Stir. Add ice cubes. 

To learn more about growing a lemon tree, you can borrow When Grandma Gives You a Lemon Tree by Jamie Deenihan.  If you want to learn more about what you can make with lemons, you can borrow the book, The Totally Lemons Cookbook by Helen Siegel. 

Now that we know how to harvest lemon seeds, lets grow guacamole next! 

Remember, its easy to garden when you have outside space, but it takes some creativity to garden in the kitchen!