Tips and Tales for Organic Allotmenteers: January — Germinating Lemons
By: Gemma Brandy Boyd
Tags: Lemon, Allotment, Gardening, Seasons, Organic

I’ve been loving running two organic allotments in Hainault, Essex, England for five years, and would like to share with you what I’ve learnt. Enjoy!

‘Berries’ by Gemma Boyd

Introduction

Growing plants from seed is an activity that never ceases to thrill me. I treat each seed I successfully manage to germinate like a mini miracle I coddle fiercely until it rewards me in early summer with perfectly formed buds housing imminent explosions of soothing greenery, flowers, vegetables or fruit whose vitality and stunning colours I feel compelled to celebrate daily in my artwork, music and poetry.

For me there’s no greater pleasure than cooking a meal with produce I’ve grown organically from seed on my allotments and to share this abundance with others. Then come autumn, to add the dying but at the same time unfailingly resilient limbs whom had borne such jewels back into the tangy compost of life, has me experiencing a sense of wonderment and connection to this planet that nothing else affords me.

Germinate organic lemon seeds on New Year’s Day

I have three voracious lemon trees which are four years old I germinated from seed, and though yet to bear fruit, they’re my most prized accomplishment. To rub their young oversize, Day-Glo green leaves between my thumb and fingers to release such a powerful lemony aroma, is a sensory indulgence fit for angels.

Why not enjoy watching your lemon trees take shape alongside your hopes and dreams for the coming year by grabbing a couple of organic lemons. Cut the ends off. Slice them in half and then quarters. Fish out as many intact seeds as you can. Tenderly wipe them free of slime with paper towels. Peel the shell off from the top of the seed down. Place the peeled seeds onto a double sheet of paper towels that’s been sprayed generously with rainwater or bottled spring water and cover them up by folding the paper securely around them. Label them with today’s date and seal them into a reusable transparent freezer bag or the like. Finally, store them in a warm, dark place (I put mine in the airing cupboard). Open them up after approximately 10 days to see if they’ve sprouted roots.

Sow the germinated lemon seeds individually (with the root facing downwards) in small pots made from clear water bottles with holes in the bottom. Use worm and insect-free homemade compost mixed with sawdust and make sure the seeds are sitting on the surface. Next, cover them with eco-friendly cling film and place them on a windowsill above a radiator. If you’re very fortunate, you will be bestowed with the gift of seedlings.

Once the seedlings look strongly established, remove the cling film, water with diluted nettle and comfrey fertilizer, and place on a sunny windowsill. Lemon trees thrive best in a hot climate and don’t like to be sat in cold, wet dirt, so water sparingly — especially in the winter: I place the seedling containers on an upturned pot to provide adequate drainage.

I shall never forget the sight of a fragrant lemon tree I was treated to each time I pulled up the blinds in my Benalmádena, Spain studio flat in October 2019. Its fruit would bounce around the courtyard like golf balls I’d collect for a refreshing lemon tea.