Your 2024 Garden

[JacinLarkwell]

Lemon cucumbers! I was thinking of getting some seed, and forgot! Have you grown them before?

I tried, but they didn't make it while I was on vacation. My house sitter completely forgot about all of my plants and didn't water anything for over a week last summer. That was too long for most, including the cucumbers

Trying a few different sources this year for them to see if they're different at all

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I've grew these a couple times. They were tasty. They got mildew easily in my garden so I didn't continue to grow them. Probably because our summers are so humid. They may do better for you.

Did you trellis them? Or mound them?

 

[gtaus]

Did you taste them? Obviously I'm expecting bitter, but I'm not sure just how bitter to expect if I get any to grow

The bitter melons are plenty bitter to me. Dear Wife is a Filipina, so it's native food to her and she can eat bitter melon served with bitter melon. That's too bitter for me.

But I do like it in smaller bits in soups as an accent. Just recently, Dear Wife brought home a bitter melon cold salad with onions, red/yellow/green bell peppers, and some other stuff. There were big slices of bitter melon in that salad, but the vinegar cut down on the bitterness and I rather enjoyed that salad. So, I guess it's like a lot of things, it depends on how to prepare the food to eat it.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

The bitter melons are plenty bitter to me. Dear Wife is a Filipina, so it's native food to her and she can eat bitter melon served with bitter melon. That's too bitter for me.

But I do like it in smaller bits in soups as an accent. Just recently, Dear Wife brought home a bitter melon cold salad with onions, red/yellow/green bell peppers, and some other stuff. There were big slices of bitter melon in that salad, but the vinegar cut down on the bitterness and I rather enjoyed that salad. So, I guess it's like a lot of things, it depends on how to prepare the food to eat it.

Hmm, okay. I got a smaller variety and only like 6 seeds will be in the packet, so I guess if I'm not a fan, I won't have too much to deal with.

Excited to try and grow it though

 

[gtaus]

I tried, but they didn't make it while I was on vacation. My house sitter completely forgot about all of my plants and didn't water anything for over a week last summer. That was too long for most, including the cucumbers

I grow almost all my garden plants in hügelkultur raised beds. They store water in the logs and wood, so you don't have to water the beds as much as a "normal" raised bed or in-ground garden. In my experience, it does make a big difference and all my new raised beds use the hügelkultur method.

Did you trellis them? Or mound them?

I grew my bitter melons on a trellis and they did not have any mold. The YouTube videos I watched on growing bitter melons all use a trellis system to keep them up off the ground.

The bitter melons grow on vines like cucumbers, so maybe they would do well in a mound and laying on the ground. Dear Wife asked me to build a trellis for her bitter melons... so I did. Happy Wife happy life!

 

[Sally PB]

@gtaus, what about the seeds in the bitter melons?

I was interested in growing them for the jelly-ish coating on the seeds. Supposedly, that's like a sweet cherry. I thought about trying to find them in a specialty market, see if I'd like the melon part. Then I looked into their need for a long season, and figured I'd pass.

If I find them somewhere, I'm going to try them. Just have to find them. I used to work with a couple Filipinas, but that was a long time ago.

The bitter melons grow on vines like cucumbers, so maybe they would do well in a mound and laying on the ground. Dear Wife asked me to build a trellis for her bitter melons... so I did. Happy Wife happy life!

And the pictures are awesome too!

 

[gtaus]

Hmm, okay. I got a smaller variety and only like 6 seeds will be in the packet, so I guess if I'm not a fan, I won't have too much to deal with.

Excited to try and grow it though

Like I said, Dear Wife is a Filipina so bitter melons are a taste of home for her here in northern Minnesota. She loves them. We can't get them in our local stores. I grow the bitter melons for her, but I like them in limited quantities in our food.

As to tying the bitter melons in your food, I would just recommend you start off with small quantities and maybe in different types of food dishes. Her native dish of bitter melons is too much for me, but I liked bits and pieces in soups and a bitter melon cold salad.

Also, I have developed more of a taste for bitter melon over time. So, they are not as bitter as when I first tried them - if that makes sense.

 

[gtaus]

@gtaus, what about the seeds in the bitter melons?

We kept a batch of seeds for growing new plants this coming year. I don't think you can eat the bitter melon seeds like sunflowers, pumpkin, or squash seeds. But I could be wrong.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Did you taste them? Obviously I'm expecting bitter, but I'm not sure just how bitter to expect if I get any to grow

Probably depends on the variety, as some are more bitter than others, but do you like bitter foods? I love radicchio, for example, I can eat a Caesar salad of 100% radicchio, but I find bitter melon unpalatable. And yes I grew up with it, my family always had a big pot of bitter melon soup at family gatherings, but I've never liked it, as a child or an adult.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Probably depends on the variety, as some are more bitter than others, but do you like bitter foods? I love radicchio, for example, I can eat a Caesar salad of 100% radicchio, but I find bitter melon unpalatable. And yes I grew up with it, my family always had a big pot of bitter melon soup at family gatherings, but I've never liked it, as a child or an adult.

Never really had anything bitter that I can think of. Spinach is probably the most bitter