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Post by glen on Nov 3, 2016 14:43:20 GMT -6
Ron seems to like to make tea using the leaf. The whole plant is useful and has different medical applications. The leaves are famous for making tea that is supposed to be useful as a type 2 diabetes medication. It is supposed to help regulate blood sugars. You can google this because that is where I found the this information. I do not make tea from the leaves although I have made tea from it. I just do not do this regularly. I get these large bittermelon fruit harvests so I juice em. I also get good medicinal affects for the digestive system issues that I have using the fruits. The tea tastes a lot better than the fruit juice which is extremely bitter, depending on how many fruits you use to make it. I make it strong. The tea is actually pretty good to drink once you get used to it. You could mix honey in it if you wanted to. Or, a little lemon or both. You could drink it hot or cold. I am sure there are other herbs that would mix well with the bittermelon leaves also. The leaves could be dried also for year around use. I have actually seen tea bags for sale online that are filled with bittermelon leaf. The Chinese use it that way. They call it Fuqua. I believe that the fruits have a lot more nutricional value than the leaf. More vitamins, minerals, fibre etc. Which part of the plant you choose to use depends on what you actually feel you need. I do not believe that there has been much formal research done on this plant to see what medical and health value it actually does have. I do not believe that the powers that be would want to know. It would cut into their profits if it was ever found out that this easy to grow plant could replace any of their expensive over the counter remedy's. For example, ever since I stumbled into this plant I haven't bought any Pepto Bismol. I no loƱger need Pepto Bizmol. The pink stuff has gotten expensive too. I didn't think Pepto Bizmol tasted that good either but it was a pretty good stomach remedy so I used to buy it and keep a bottle of it in the fridge. No longer. Don't miss the pink stuff at all.
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Post by glen on Nov 15, 2016 11:30:55 GMT -6
Copy of email from Ron concerning dehydrating bittermelon leaves. A worthy project indeed.
Glen,
My connection is too slow to get on to the seed savers website to make a comment, so I just emailed an update instead.
My bitter melon is dehydrated now. The pilot light in the oven worked pretty good to dry it out until crispy in two day's time.
I cut the vines up into one-inch pieces, so they'd fit inside a homemade coffee filter tea bag.
I got a half gallon glass jar completely full of tea crumbled up to almost dust.
I just took my best guess at what might be 8 or 10 green leaves worth of tea and steeped it just like any other tea leaves. It turned out pretty good.
My youngest son got a 4 point buck yesterday, so we're cooking a deer stew with garden tomatoes that I picked before the frost, and potatoes tonight.
This weather is still weird. Tomorrow is going to be 75, and the next day is going to be 80. Saturday night is supposed to be 28 degrees.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Nov 21, 2016 23:02:00 GMT -6
Glen,
I've been mixing Roselle tea, with Bitter Melon tea. Not too shabby! And they are both good for you too!
Thanks, Glen and thanks, George, for introducing me to these two great new things.
Ron
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Feb 2, 2017 19:10:35 GMT -6
Glen,
One of my growers in Tecumseh, Oklahoma has a bitter melon seed sprouted from some seeds I sent him, grown from the ones that you sent me. Pretty cool; now there's another Okie bitter melon fan because of your thread here.
I made some tea today from the gallon jar of bitter melon leaves that I dried last Summer. It didn't seem as bitter, but as it did in Summer. It's hard to guess what quantity of leaves I'm using when they're dried. I might need to add more next time?
Thank you for the seeds you sent. I've really enjoyed them.
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Post by glen on Apr 16, 2017 9:55:21 GMT -6
This thread has gotten forgotten about. But, its garden time here in Panama! I have my bittermelon seeds planted in small pots now, 2 seeds per pot. I had seeds saved from an exceptionally large bittermellon. They call this fruit balsamina here in Panama. The Chinese call it fuqua. I just call it balsamina myself. I have a spot picked out where things grow real well picked out for this crop. Balsamina is probably just as important to me as the okra. If you have a good spot with good soil reserved for your bittermelon you don't need many plants. I will plant mine near the sceptic tank drain feild. Last year, the vines were monsters over in that area. The vine got super thick near where it started out. I mean, thick. Probably 3 or 4 inches in diameter by the time it was all over with. The vines climbed everything in site including taking over a tree near by and the tree would have bittermelon fruits hanging so high up I couldn't reach them without a ladder. I look forward to making bittermelon juice and drinking that twice per day. Full of all kinds of vitamins and minerals and natural medicine that maintains your gut. In the best condition it can be in. If you have Irritable Bowel syndrome or any kind of issues that cause distress to your gut, its a good idea to try this juice. Its said that it cleans the liver. It kills parasites. It calms down the stomach. It adds fibre to the system. Add steamed okra to your diet as well. Everything functions better. Can't wait to get some fruits coming in. I really don't have that much more to say about balsamina. And, Ron likes it also. Thats says it all.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Apr 24, 2017 16:04:48 GMT -6
Glen,
I've got lots of seeds from last year, so I sowed some bitter melon seeds along the fence today. It won't be long now. I'm looking forward to a great season.
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Post by glen on Apr 25, 2017 18:30:20 GMT -6
I have had seeds planted in little pots for 10 days. Not one has germinated. They take a long time. Might be another week before I see the first seed germinated. I planted a lot more a couple of days ago. Hard to get them to germinate.
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Post by john on Apr 27, 2017 5:31:51 GMT -6
I look forward to growing some for the first time this year. A friend of mine gave me a catalog from Kitazawa seeds. They have a large selection of varieties, so I ordered a packet. A very fascinating plant. I have heard many good things about it.
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Post by glen on Apr 28, 2017 16:40:02 GMT -6
What variety did you order? By the way, thanx for making a comment on this thread. I hope you have great success with your bittermelon.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on May 5, 2017 16:25:41 GMT -6
Glen,
After the flood, I built up a compost pile of leaf mold from the many drifts that were left when the water went down. I buried green leafy plants, topsoil, and chicken litter under the pile and placed a wooden pallet over it for weight to help in the decomposition process. I'll be planting my Bitter Melon seeds there in coming weeks. This year, I should have a way better bitter melon crop than I had last year. We have 6 days of sunny weather in the forecast. Things should get better soon.
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Post by glen on May 5, 2017 18:13:09 GMT -6
Ron, I hope things get better. I planted a whole bunch of bittermelon sedes about 20 days ago. Not a single one has germinated. I am beginning to worry. Bittermelon can be a big pain in the rear to coax it to germinate. The best I have done so far is dig up a couple of volunteer bittermelon seedlings that I didn't even plant. I check em every day. So far, no cigar.
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Post by macmex on May 6, 2017 5:04:16 GMT -6
Here near Tahelquah, Oklahoma; we need some warm nights! True, we had some. But they have all been interspersed with really cold nights. Glen, your comments about bitter melon being difficult to germinate incline me to wait a while before I plant it. I want really warm soil!
George
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Post by glen on May 6, 2017 11:41:15 GMT -6
You are correct. I soaked all my sedes over night before planting them. I did plant them in Little pots. Bittermelon will survive transplanting. For example, if you see a volunteer somewhere you can dig it up with a garden tool and replant it where you want to plant it. However, it sets them back some. Kind of like okra. It gets set back easy also. Bittermelon seems to germinate when it wants to. There is no rhyme nor reason. We have warm nights here obviously and they are still not germinating. There must be thousands of bittermelon sedes in my soil from last years planting. I am on the lookout now for volunteers. Bittermelon has that armored husk also. I have read online that some people like to knick the seed covering to try and get it to germinate. I haven't tried that. My sedes were in the freezer since last season. That has never been an issue in the past. I planted a total of 28 sedes. I will feel a lot better if I at least see one seed come up.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Jul 16, 2017 17:07:12 GMT -6
Glen,
My bitter melon vines are finally starting to take off and grow fast enough that I'm harvesting my first leaves today. Thank you for the seeds you send a couple years ago, they are still producing vines for some good tea. It will be a long time before I get fruit this year though, due to the crazy cloudy weather and way too much rain.
My Roselle plants are growing better too. Can't wait until I have Roselle and bitter melon tea again this Autumn.
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Post by glen on Jul 16, 2017 18:25:29 GMT -6
I have one plant outside that I found growing as a volunteer in the okra patch. I transplanted into a big pot and set it near a trellis. Its getting big and also has a Bloom. If it wasn't for this volunteer I would not have any bittermelon this year. All my seeds are bad. I am not saavy when it comes to what is going on with bittermelon. Maybe I need to start paying more attention to it. I have never had bittermelon seed go bad on me that I know of. However, I just do not have enough experience with it to even surmise about why I am having problems. I do know that bittermelon is hard to get to germinate sometimes. Thats all I know. I hope I get some nice fruits so I can try saving seed again. I have no idea where I would get seed if this plant does not produce for me. Good luck with the Roselle by the way. I see it growing all the time here. I didn't notice it until you guys mentioned it. Its quite popular here.
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