Winter melon and Bitter gourd

This is the bitter gourd (ku gua or ku gwa) I planted at the end of May. It is just about ready to take off and start climbing up the railing in the front yard. Bitter melon plants are very similar to cucumbers in their growing habit, but the the vines can grow up to 25 feet in length. The fruit is treasured in many Asian cultures for its medicinal properties. It is said to lower blood sugar for those with diabetes. Anyway, it has a strange taste that keeps you coming back for more. We mainly use it to make a delicious soup.






Here we have winter melon (dong gua or dong gwa). It also has a growing habit similar to cucumbers. The fruit on this plant is huge (about the size of a large watermelon). The fruit is often used in soups. It can also be used to make a delicious tea and some soak it in sugar water to make a delicious candy.








The elephant garlic started growing scapes yesterday. I clipped this one off after I got a picture. People say that cutting the scapes off makes the plant put more energy into the bulb formation. The scapes are delicious fried up wiht a little salt. Funnily enough, elephant garlic isn't even garlic; they are more closely related to leeks.















Early girl set its first few tomatoes yesterday. The only other tomato I have that has set any fruit is sugar snack. It will be a race to the finish.

















Here is another shot of the garden. We have been enjoying the lettuce over the past week. We made some salads and also boiled some of the leaf lettuce and used it as a green when we had Chinese food the other night. It is surprisingly good cooked that way. Boil it for one minute and then add salt, soy sauce, dehydrated onion and sesame oil. Delicious

We used the onions to make some Taiwan Pizza (tsong you bing) . Its a doughy pancake type food with lots of fresh onions in it. They are super oily, but soooo good. I will put a link to the recipe soon. Here is the link. http://chineserecipes1.googlepages.com/tsongyoubing%3Bonionpancake
The recipe is step by step with pictures so give it a try.







The zucchini opened its first flower today and has lots of male flowers and a few females ready to open up over the next few days. I can't wait to put some fresh zukes in the stir-fry.