Bitter melon: warty yet pretty; a bitter delicacy

These indoors-grown tropical bitter melon plants were initially planted days before the last frost of the spring and had to be dug out to move back indoors and later replanted.  They somehow survived, but may have been stunned twice (or as Taiwanese would say 傷元氣), resulting in very few bitter melon fruits produced so far.

We have shown a few American friends/neighbors the bitter melons; they all were puzzled by our cultivating something bitter.  Little do they know many Chinese/Taiwanese consider this a delicacy.

良藥苦口 (good medicine tastes bitter).  Bitter melon is also a medicinal herb, treating all kinds of diseases, including diabetes, salubrious to many health conditions.  Conventional wisdom tells me when a “medicine” is so good, it is, more often than not, too good to be true, unfortunately.

The exotic bitter melon may be warty and yet pretty.  The seeds of these bitter melon plants are gifts from Esther, a seasoned gardener, from whom Katy got many good advice.