Much more than a last-minute dressing for fish or sliced into a gin and tonic, lemons make lip-smacking preserves and pickles.

I must have written about my lemon tree before. It has survived several brutal prunings because of leaf gall, it has had several limbs amputated, its trunk has been severely sunburned and now it has had to endure almost total neglect as I can't legally water it as it grows in the middle of the lawn. I fear it might finally have decided it is all too much.

Every morning I am picking up 10 to 20 lemons shed onto the lawn. It seems to be saying, "I cannot tolerate the weight of this fruit and I am so tired and thirsty".

It does get quite a few buckets of shower water but it seems it is not enough.

I have made lots of preserved lemons, I have given away pots and pots of lemon curd and now
I'm making big batches of Greg Malouf's fabulous lemon and date chutney in his book Arabesque , and the recipe below from food writer Tom Jaine, Spiced lemon pickle. And I am keeping most of my friends in lemons.

I have two treasured bergamot oranges. I had six fruit from the larger of the trees and the fragrance from the peel is absolutely lovely. It contributes the scent that makes good Earl Grey tea instantly recognisable. On the other hand, the very expensive espaliered meyer lemon I succumbed to from a fancy nursery has completely disappeared.