Re: lemons and peels

["Kieran or Donna" <redherring@tnaccess.com>]

We've found that dried orange or lemon peel can help distinguish between a
cold or allergy, as it does not work on colds.  I try to keep my few citrus
trees (two these days) and sometimes a wintered over pepper plant in a mix
of about half our clay and half potting soil or compost.  That way I don't
have to worry about the interface between the 2 or the plant drowning in a
puddle of potting soil surrounded by clay.  I unpot them, stick them in a
hole, mostly ignore them all summer, and in the fall dig them up.  In a good
year they may require a bigger pot.  Sometimes I have to prune a little.  If
you ever have a potted citrus that tries to grow a taproot, cut it off.
This happens on seedling trees (the rootstock if it's grafted).  It will
speed fruiting to cut the taproot.  This is true for apples too as Lon
recently noted, the story about the iron plate or large stone under apples
in England is one I have heard too.