Save Your Species

For those who might be wondering what to do with your lulav and etrog now that Sukkot is coming to an end, here are a few suggestions to extend the beauty and the ritual of the festival beyond the boundaries of its eight days.

1. Leave your lulav to dry out and use it on Pesah in place of the feather to search for hametz. This is a nice way to tie together the two festivals. Don’t forget to take it out of the plastic bag – I made that mistake and enjoyed the scent of mildewed lulav in my closet.
2. Let your lulav dry out and use it as part of the skhakh for next year’s sukkah. (But I imagine it will take many, many lulavim to cover a whole sukkah.) This would be a good idea for next year’s sukkah city.
3. The classic post Sukkot use for your etrog is to fill it with cloves and use it instead of a spice box for havdalah. Full disclosure – this has never worked that well for me when I’ve done it, but it’s fun and kid friendly.
4. Zest the etrog and use the zest for a nice etrog pound cake. You will also need a little lemon or lime zest to enhance the flavor.
5. This year I am trying to make etrog vodka which is fun but not kid friendly. It takes a while to “ferment” so I’ll let you know on Hanukkah how it comes out.

P.S. These suggestions apply this year because it is NOT a Sabbatical year. Produce from a sabbatical year is treated in a unique way. The next Shemittah year will be 2014-2015.