Thursday, April 7, 2011

Over ripe Bitter Gourd / Melon

Bye-bye Ilhan and Rayyan! Mama going to school...Alamak, wait a second, why is that bitter gourd have a hole at the bottom.

I forgot all about bitter gourd plants in the front of the house because they just started to produce end March unlike the ones growing at the backyard. My plants don't like growing at the front yard because the soil are unbearably hot and they receive afternoon sun.
 This bitter gourd fruit is over-ripening. The next day much more bigger hole at the bottom and you can see red flesh covering bitter gourd seeds. If you leave it longer on the plant, the seeds will drop to the ground. Ants sometime help to clean up the red flesh and leave clean seeds for you.

A closer look...
Inside...
Lenay had a bite and she said it does not taste bitter anymore. I take her word this time around.
This is what bitter gourd inside look when I harvest them for cooking. If you see some reddish skin inside it means that it is starting to ripe. Bitter gourd brownish colour seeds at this stage can be kept for next-planting.

18 comments:

Mark Willis said...

The picture showing the inside of the over-ripe one makes it look almost "animal" - the seeds look like the bloody internal organs of a rat or something!

Unknown said...

Amazing :) Love the colour of it.

TK said...

I love to see your kebun..I wish I can plant pokok2 macam you..

Malar said...

Your bitter gourd climbing on what tree? Tehy look so healthy! I like to see your vegetables garden! It's so productive!

miruku said...

Wah your bitter gourd plant can grow until that tall ah. I planned to plant some after i'd cleared the veggie beds but after seeing your pic i think i really need to plan well before i sow the seed.. Need to build tall + strong supports for them.

Hughbert said...

Woah that is awesome. What sort of tree is it growing up? The seeds look like little foetuses! Well, I guess they are in a way.

Sue Garrett said...

So don't you eat the gourds when they are ripe but when it is still green?

takaeko said...

I wonder what the taste of overripen bitter gourd? Isn't it bitter anymore? It might be sweet? Judging from the color of yours, it looks like kind of a tropical fruit!

One said...

It's really red inside. I have never seen them like that before. You are a very good seed collector.

Malay-Kadazan girl said...

Mark~ It does look bloody.

Caitlyn, TK~ The changing colour does make it look very interesting.

Malar~ They are not climbing on a tree but it does look like they are climbing on a tree when you mentioned it to me. Growing on a trellis erected like a tepee.

Milka~ I was thinking your garden arch will be a perfect place to plant peria if you have not find any replacement for the bunga kertas yet. Peria foliage is very pretty and will decorate your garden arch. It will be a sight to see fruit dangling at your garden arch. You can train them how to grow anyway.

Hughbert~I have four bitter gourd plants on that picture and it is not climbing on a tree. But a trellis. With all that many leaves it must have hide the hand/home-made trellis that I have erected in the polystyrene container like a tepee shape trellis. It is growing more than 3 metre tall, passerby can see them over the fence. I did not expected that growing them in the container did surprisingly well this year.

Sue~I guess we can eat them when they are ripe. But it is hard to sell them in market with big hole in the bottom. The fruit quickly dry when over-ripening, not that much juicy anymore.

Takaeko~Oh it does look like a tropical fruit. I have not tasted it. But my cousin said surprisingly it has a sweeter taste on it.

One~Some are much more red inside. I think this one was getting too much sun.

Wendy said...

yum - I have only just started to love bitter melon in the past couple of years. I wish I could have some now - with some pork and black bean sauce - and nice bowl of white rice...yum.

Unknown said...

Awesome pics and header. I have been intrigued by bitter gourd and love being able to see what it looks like. Did you know that in a study 2 tsps a day lowered blood sugar in diabetics by 54%?

Ann, Chen Jie Xue 陈洁雪 said...

so sayang it gone ripe. Here it is very expensive,

Bangchik and Kakdah said...

If one is keen on something very exotic, ripe cucumber is the best. Yellow and Blood Red! what a combination.

Jennifer@threedogsinagarden said...

It was interesting to peek inside a fruit I have never seen before.

Malay-Kadazan girl said...

Wendy~Me too, I just began to love this veggie.

Judy~Wow isn't that a wonderful discovery. Thank you for the info.

Ann~ It is expensive here too. That is one of the reason we plant this veggie.

Bangchik~ I wonder why we don't usually eat the ripe one;-).

Jennifer~It looks totally different when it is maturing and over-ripe.

littlekarstar said...

They look so fantastic growing up there! Do you get many neighbours asking you what you're growing? I used to hate bitter gourd as a child but I love it now.

Malay-Kadazan girl said...

Mrs Bok~ We live in units (home-mart)and only 3 units at our plot. We are at the back end so it is a bit secluded. But I have several people that were curious and walk around the front yard garden to see what we are growing or snapping pictures. But I have always peek from inside, very shy.