My Garden Journal Challenge May 2019
Hi Steemians,
I am joining the Steemit Community Garden Journal Challenge for the second time. To those who are not yet aware this is an initiative of @simplymike you can read more about the challenge on this post
For this month, I was able to grow bitter gourd alone. The dry season from previous month left my small backyard garden to dry out and almost all greens wilted. Later that month we started seeing some rain which helped revive my plants specifically the bitter gourd. I was harvesting the young leaves on this photo which we use to flavor our soups.
This morning I checked if I can harvest some bitter gourds so that I have something to share with you. Last night I happen to see simplymike's post which got me excited. On this photo the fruits are ready. If you notice we have a small banana growing on a plant box and beside it a thin papaya trying to survive.
So far the fruits and young leaves of the bitter gourd look promising.
We have enough harvest and these on the photo I will give to my parents and tomorrow I will harvest a few more to distribute to my friends.
It was not a good month at all because the tomatoes and other herbs did not survive the April heat. It is only towards the end of May that a bitter gourd vine survived and thrived.
I didn't see any major pest problem but it had been my practice to cover the fruits with plastic or paper to protect them from insects that suck the sap.
I don't have a big or fabulous garden but I am happy to have grown my food for our own consumption and that is already a big win for me.
Thanks fellow Steemians and garden enthusiasts
@allyson19
Oh, I love to see all that greenery. In spite of the drought, your garden looks very green.
I've never had bitter gourd - I have never even seen one. But they seem to be growing easily. (A bit like cucumber and zucchini here, when we're at the top of the season, no one leaves this house with at least a cucumber or zucchini, lol - we always have way too many)
That is right they grow easily this is a common vegetable here in the Philippines and some parts of Asia. Well I had seen a zucchini in the fresh produce of a supermarket but I haven't eaten one yet 😊 not to mention that they are too expensive and I don't know how to use them. Funny isn't it?
Thanks for dropping by @simplymike and thank you for making this community of green thumbs alive again
That's one of the things I like about this contest: you learn something new about people on the other side of the world and their food habits.
Not so very long ago, @cicisaja posted a picture of an Annona squamosa - (a sugar apple)-tree, standing near her house, full of fruit.
I was so jealous, because it is almost impossible to find them here...
And im jealous that I dunno how to cook bitter gourd😭
Sometimes we just boil them and dip with our choice of sour or salty condiments
My hubby loves it.. but I can't eat it 😂 the siomay seller add the boiled bitter gourd too before he pour the peanut's sauce... strange that it's not bitter at all
Yes it is not bitter at all although when my kids are still young they can't tolerate little bitterness
😂
Haha sugar apple is also very common here. When I was young we have two growing in our garden they've been infested by aphids though
#evenmorejealous 😉
Your garden IS fabulous if you can grow food for your own consumption - awesome! i've never grown bitter gourd - how do you eat it?
Thank you @riverflows for dropping by and leaving a nice comment. I was inspired by some people I saw online who manage to grow their own food and be self sufficient instead of complaining that life is hard 😋
Bitter gourds can be stir fried together with tomatoes, prawns an egg and your favorite seasoning mix. Slice them thinly and sweat them first with salt for a few minutes to lessen the bitterness. The easiest way to cook is boil them then dip with your choice of salty or sour condiments like vinegar with shrimp paste ☺
That sound lovely. I'm going to try growing them this year!
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