Fruits and Veggies Monday: My Spring and Summer with Bitter Melon / ゴーヤと過ごした春夏

(Japanese follows / 日本語は下に)

This is my entry to Fruits and Veggies Monday challenge, created by @lenasveganliving and hosted by @plantstoplanks. Thanks to all for realizing this great Monday Vegan gathering on Steemit.

STEEMIT FRUITS AND VEGGIES MONDAY CHALLENGE

Some of vegetables in my garden are those that is not easily available in Germany. Bitter melon is one of them.

Bitter melon is one of the beloved summer vegetables in Japan. Its bitterness help us to overcome Japanese hot humid summer. Sometimes I see bitter melon is introduced as food for longevity especially on western media.

You may be curious about bitter melon. Here is my half an year with the plant, fruits and seeds I took recently :)

In the beginning of May I started them indoor ... or to say in my pocket to give the seeds enough warmth.

They moved to outdoor in the end of May. Initially they suffered from aphids. I diligently splayed nettle tea every day like their mama.

After they grew to certain size, there were not trouble with aphids. I made trellis with string for them. They went up and up and up and made fruits. They need quite a lot of water and few times of liquid fertilizer. I had my first harvest on 6th August. It was small but I was so happy about the first harvest. It tasted exactly bitter melon I had in Japan. After that I could harvest enough for my personal consumption and even could bring some to friends.

My daughter likes its shape and texture. Whenever I harvest bitter melons she was happy to have them in her hands. Once I made a funny face with a bitter melon for her.

You may be curious about how it's eaten. I simply stir fry it with other vegetables and eat with rice. I put it in Miso soup too.

I kept two fruits to take seeds as it wasn’t F1. The fruits gradually turn yellow and drop seeds surrounded with red gel. I didn't wait until they drop seeds.

I look forward to sowing the seeds and hosting them in my garden with some improvements next year. Do you want to try bitter melon?

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今年は初めてドイツでゴーヤの収穫までこぎつけました。その一部始終を写真でまとめました。@lenasveganlivingさんがはじめて、@plantstoplanksさんがホストしている月曜日のビーガンコミュニティーFruits and Veggies Monday Challengeへの投稿です。

STEEMIT FRUITS AND VEGGIES MONDAY CHALLENGE

寒かった5月にポケットで発芽させて、外に出した後、まだ苗が小さい頃は日々アブラムシを駆除していました。5、6月はまさにゴーヤのお母さんでした。お父ちゃんに「Good plants mama」とからかわれたほど。

ある程度の大きさになると多少のアブラムシはついても勝手に成長して、日々の水やりと数度の液肥で収穫までたどり着けました。お店で買うものと比べると小ぶりで、でもしっかりゴーヤの味がして自分で食べるのには十分な量収穫できました。お友達にも少しおすそ分けしたほど。

はじめてのゴーヤの種採りにも挑戦しました。黄色くなるまで待って、もう少しで種が落ちるというところで赤いゼリーに包まれたタネを取り出しました。

種を採ったゴーヤは一代交配種（F1）ではないので、来年はこのドイツゴーヤの種をまいてみようと思います :)