The proper spelling is Chameh. I can't find any seeds online yet.
Strange, odd and curious veggies
Wow, thanks! Would those be non-hybrid, do you think? I've just been buying the Korean hybrid packets at the Oriental Foods Store...
Wow! Those are good looking melons and they sound wonderful Five thousand plants is a lot! What a wonderful time that must have been.
If you can find some at a farmer's market, you might be able to find some non-hybrids. I wish I could contact my old friend over there, but he lives in the jungle with no phone, no lights (except kerosene lanterns) and a 4x4 with Ground Hawg tires to get in and out of the farming area. I've still got my truck we used out there, brought it with me to the states when we moved here to CA. We used to set off the burglar alarm on my truck because there were poachers coming out there after wild water buffalo and deer. It's a wonder they didn't come over to our place and shoot us for scaring off all the game.
The melons we grew were really BIG. Much bigger than the others that people were taking to market.
They were very, very sweet and nice and crunchy, we didn't even bother to peel them, ate the peeling and all.
I remember one of us would drive the truck and the other would pick, we took turns. He'd yell "STOP! There's another covey of melons over here." :) Funny how you don't know the good ole days are the good ole days until they are gone, isn't it?
Those certainly do sound like wonderful old days. I wonder if the soil and climate didn't have a lot to do with the sweetness and size of your melons. Out in the middle of the jungle like that, I bet the soil was great. Just a guess.
Yes, it was a great climate for melons during dry season and come to think of it, we irrigated right out of the river, that water had to be full of nutrients, there was nothing foreign draining into the water because there was nothing above, no civilization anyway. Some of the fields we used were virgin fields that had never grown crops before and were right next to the river. The dirt was red as red can be, strange stuff. It would be dry and dusty one minute, then when it rained, you could sink your truck into it up to the axels if you didn't have it jacked up and the right tires on it, you'd never get out without a tow.
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://i.pbase.com/u41/huguenin/large/26857819.118_1834.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.pbase.com/huguenin/image/26857819&usg=__xCMaaJR-k_Lhmp96kcsx-daS3b8=&h=600&w=800&sz=107&hl=en&start=1&sig2=U2oQtfRq1gUY4IvbrTQ-RA&um=1&tbnid=D1R18b5w8OI1JM:&tbnh=107&tbnw=143&ei=MbyPSevFGpr2sAOG3OnDCA&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dbubulao%2Bguam%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1T4SUNA_enUS253US253%26sa%3DN
This is where we were. These guys had to use a helicopter to take this pic. LOL!
A covey of melons? My hub's use to hunt quail and dove so you can imagine the picture that came to mind when I read "covey of melon"....LOL
Anybody here ever grow red noddle beans/pea? I've grown the yard longs but I thought I like to try the red noodle this year.
South Guam looks beautiful. Somehow, I had always visualized Guam as one solid airbase with nothing to much of interest -- but I should have realized that there was a reason Japanese like to honeymoon there. Farming on virgin land probably explains a lot of the size of your melons and probably some of the flavor. When ever I garden on land that has never been gardened before, the results are fantastic the first year or two. I am sure, though, that the weather in Guam also favors the warm weather crops.
No, Big Red, I have never even heard of red noddle beans. Where did you find them. I would like to grow yard long beans, though. DH loves them.
Well, by golly, I had missed those. I do like the company, though. I have ordered from them a couple of times in the past and have received good European seeds in their original European packages which generally contain a lot more seeds than we are used to getting here in the US.
http://bittermelon.org/
I've got some seeds for these, I don't like to eat them, but my husband does.
Last year, the seeds I had didn't germinate, so hopefully better luck this year.
This veggie lives up to its name in bitterness. Yuk!
Wow! Bitter melon has its own website! That is amazing. I have a hard time getting it down as well, but it is very good for you. Asians put it on the lips of babies so they will get used to the bitter flavor, which is apparently an acquired taste. Bitter melon, contains quinine, I understand, and that compound is very good for preventing diseases like malaria. It is sort of like eating turnip greens -- not many people learn to eat them as adults. But turnip greens are no where near as bitter as bitter melon.
But once you acquire the taste it is a very healthy food to consume and those who have the taste love it!
This message was edited Feb 9, 2009 2:39 PM
Oh that's funny, I was raised on cooked turnip greens and they don't taste the least bit bitter to me, that's probably why. I even eat them now. I like them better than cooked spinach, not as slimy, of course, I'm talking about canned greens. But my mom always had a mess of fresh ones on the table it seemed like.
Have to put seasoning in them: granulated garlic, salt, pepper and a little splash of vinegar.
I thought these would never form! They took longer than the cauliflower and the broccoli, but they sure look good to me. I may harvest one and have it tonight. I suppose I cook it just like cauliflower? (They're called romanescos.)
I did start them from seed. I PLAN to steam one tonight and will report!
Oh, they are beautiful. I bet they are delicious. I have grown them, but I never got around to eating the ones I grew. I didn't know how to tell when they were ready before it is too late. I can't believe you already have a crop. It is still too early to plant them here. I am pretty sure you would cook them like cauliflower -- steamed with butter or garlic and olive oil would probably work great.
Got busy in the house and lazy in the garden for once; now the plan is to cook one tonight...!
Can't wait to hear how those taste, they're beautiful.
I just got seeds today for Devil's Ears Lettuce. That's scary ain't it? LOL!
big red I almost ordered those red noodle beans and I don't know why I didn't. Maybe cuz I had so much other stuff in my cart already. Seems like I can't stop ordering stuff I have no room to plant.
I'm growing yard longs and asparagus beans this year and a couple other ones. The yard longs didn't do too terribly last time. I think I starved my plants to death because I wasn't giving things enough fert. but the eggplants were so prolific that when I showed my hubby a pic of them in the seed catalog, I thought we were both going to heave. I don't want anymore eggplant for a couple years. Then lo and behold, I get a free seed packet in the seeds I ordered today... eggplant. ugh!
pugzley,
oh I know what you mean. I had to make myself stop ordering....so many seeds ...so little dirt.
I need to get my garden cleaned up. The early cole crops I started in peat pots will soon be ready to go in the ground.
Brigid--
Here's a Romanesco recipe from the book 'The French Cook's Garden', it's pretty good.
Romanesco Broccoli with Lemon and Garlic
1 lemon
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 T Oriental Sesame oil (optional, but I use it)
1/4 cup Olive oil (I don't use but about an 1/8 and its still good)
1 head Romanesco broccoli, broken or cut into florets (about 1 lb)
Zest rind of lemon in long, thin strips and drop into boiling water for 30 seconds, Drain, pat dry, and chop finely.
Squeeze juice from 1/2 lemon. Combine lemon juice, lemon zest, garlic, and sesami oil (if using), in a medium sized bowl. Add Olive Oil in a slow, steady stream, whisking until well blended.
Steam Romanesco broccoli for 5 minutes, or until just tender. Drain and Transfer to a serving dish.
Pour lemon sauce over broccoli, toss gently, and serve.
Debbie
=)
That sounds heavenly! This would work with any kind of broccoli or even cauliflower?
I love sesame oil and use it in lots of dishes. It's especially good in vegetable fried rice. Just pour a wee bit over the rice and mix in for a nice, nutty flavor.
I will save that recipe, dmj. Sounds perfect.
thanks!
=)
I don't see why it wouldn't work with regular broccoli too, although I've never tried it. I'm not a big fan of cauliflower but it is closer in texture to Romanesco broccoli than regular broccoli is, I think.
You can also save than water you boil the zest in (I use as little as possible too--no more than 2 cups) and you can use it for making rice or add some organic sugar to it and drizzle it on a poundcake or angel food cake. Or any kind of lemon flavored simple syrup using recipe.
It's amazing what a little sauce will do for a dish, isn't it?
As a side note, I've been using a lot of granulated garlic and it is so much better than garlic powder or garlic salt, much stronger and really puts that garlic flavor into the food. I use it in stir fry, as well the sesame oil. They compliment each other perfectly in most of the foods we eat. I'll be growing garlic as soon as I can. The more I stay out of the grocery store, the happier I am.
I was thinking the other day that gardening is a bit expensive, but when you calculate the amount of pesticides and who knows what kind of threats with the commercial foods these days, you can't begin to know what you are saving by growing your own. It's nigh impossible to find organic food here and since they've changed the rules on labeling, there's no telling what you're getting.
I'd rather just try and do it myself if possible. It might not be 100 percent organic but at least I know what I did to my own food. LOL!
Imagine how much money you would have spent if you had spent that gardening time -- say shopping. Gardening is cheap compared to most passtimes -- and you get vitamins and antioxidants from it!
I hear you ladies--I hate shopping and almost everything they have in the grocery store.
I always use fresh garlic myself--I love garlic.
I am lucky to live in an area that has an excellent Organic Produce Co-op and the weekly pick up point is about a mile from my house (I got real lucky there--Houston is really geographically spread out wide and I live in the unincorporated suburbs). I use it mainly for the fruit--its a nationwide coop--and out of season veggie's. Lettuce is impossible from April-Oct here.
I am green with envy dmj. We have a very short growing season and we can get locally grown organic produce, at most 5 months per year. The rest of the year its Kroger's.
Just as I started to read on this thread, which is very interesting, I can't get any of the interlinks to work. Something wrong with computer I guess. Ao I will go back and try to read the links later if I can get them.
Donna
Donna,
Sometimes Dave's has a brief period when links don't work. I don't know why, but usually if you go back 15 minutes later everything will be fine.
Betty
Sorry to take so long, but I took friday off and monday was a holiday. The romanesco was quite good, steamed with butter, salt, and pepper. I apparently let it sit on the plant a little bit too long; it got a little "ricey" like cauliflower does. But very good -- a lot like cauliflower. I'll plant it for a winter garden again.
A friend brought me some seeds for it from Italy. I will definitely try it here in March.
Glad to hear you had a nice meal from your garden haul. :)
brigidlily, how long does romanesco take to mature? I've not grown anything like that, not even cauliflower or broccoli.
I planted it in late September, so it takes several months. A lot longer than broccoli, a little longer than cauliflower. I can't plant any of them in the spring; it just gets tooooooo hot.
not strange or curious--just broccoli starting to head up. I just threw seeds out the 10/18 thinking I was too late for the season (broccoli tends to bolt fast in spring here, unless it stays cool and damp, like it is now).
that looks beautiful...
Mine did well in the winter garden. I'll never try to plant it in spring here again, unless I just want it to attract bees. They love the flowers.
I don't do them in spring either--most of mine go out as transplants in early Sept. I always have fresh broccoli for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I just had the space and threw the seeds out. Looks like I just hit the window on them and they grew fast. It's supposed to be coolish and damp for the next week so I think they will all finish heading up without bolting. I got lucky--I tend to do a little gambling, anyway as I have the space. I already have a few tomato plants out in the ground and all the rest have been sitting out in pots since 2/13.