Tomato Plant

My tomato plant is fruiting! I have been trying to grow a tomato plant many times but none of it survive. There was one tomato plant which I planted from seeds and it grew up to the stage that it actually flowers. I was very excited and couldn't wait for the flowers to fruit. Then one fine day, when I came back from work, as usual I would open the kitchen window to take a look at my plants. To my horror, my tomato plant has collapsed! Yes, just like that! And I do not know why! I was so disappointed and almost gave up on tomato plants!

This may sound silly, but my greatest desire among all the plants is to grow my very own tomatoes, imagine biting into home grown juicy sweet tomatoes! So, for the first time, the tomato plant that I planted has finally fruit, though it is only one fruit, but I'm sure there's more to come! I couldn't wait to harvest and taste the fruit. I'm sure it will be very tasty and sweet!

Update on my bitter gourd :
Found another bitter gourd fruit near the roof. Hidden among the thick belimbing leaves. It is already starting to turn a slight yellow, time to harvest. There is only one, what can I cook it with? I turned it into a "bitter gourd omelette". Taste really good with a slight tinge of bitterness. I couldn't find any other bitter gourd fruit except for the first two fruits which I think can be harvested soon.

The pretty delicate flower of the bitter gourd.

My First Bitter Gourd Fruit

My first bitter gourd fruit and I did not even know about it until it has already ripened on the plant! I planted the bitter gourd plant from seeds (the small variety bitter gourd) about 3 months back in a pot. I let it crept up to my belimbing tree and I think that is a mistake, because it creeps up so high among the belimbing leaves that I can't even see whether there's any fruit! There are lots of flowers but they just dropped to the ground. Maybe it's because of the rain, as you know, the weather has been kind of "crazy" lately. Blazing hot in the morning and sudden heavy downpour in the evening. I guess that the poor tender flowers couldn't stand the force of the downpour!

Almost every day I "inspected" the plant hoping to see a small fruit but looks like I missed this one. One morning, as usual during my "inspection" I noticed an orange coloured fruit among the belimbing leaves. To my delight, it's a bitter gourd and it has already ripened to a beautiful orange in colour. And despite my frequent inspection, I missed this beautiful fruit ! It's my first bitter gourd fruit ! I couldn't wait to show it to my hubby and the kids! My son says "Wow, so pretty, just like an orange" . Pluck it the next day and it has already cracked revealing the red seeds inside. I planted the seeds and now three new plants has sprouted.

I spotted this yesterday morning during my "inspection". A small tiny fruit is growing!

I spotted this bigger fruit this morning! I am really excited. It feels really wonderful, and couldn't wait to "reap the fruits of labour"! This really boosts my confidence in planting other vegetables.

Will continue my inspection tomorrow to see whether there is any hidden bitter gourd among the belimbing leaves. Keeping my fingers crossed!

My Belimbing Tree

Welcome to my little potted garden. My plants are all in pots and containers except for a few plants and a belimbing tree growing on the ground in my little backyard. I love gardening. I love planting floral plants, leafy plants, vegetables and herbs, almost any kind of plants. Staying in a terrace house with limited gardening space, I have to make do with pots and containers instead. There is so much to learn about gardening and caring for your plants. There is one thing that I have learned from gardening is that you have to be very patient, really patient, just waiting for your plants to grow and mature. Plants do really make a house a home. That's what I think, just like making bread, the aroma of the bread being baked in the kitchen really makes a house a home.

I have a plant which I'm most proud of, that is my very own "belimbing tree". The scientific name for this plant is "averrhoe bilimbi". You can check out the brief description of this tree from my other blog "mycookinggallery.blogspot.com" or you can find out more details from the web by just typing the word "averrhoe bilimbi". The fruits are very sour and is used in cooking among other uses. I have not seen the fruits being sold in any market so far, all the more that I really treasure this wonderful plant! You can find this fruit tree in areas outside the city.

"Belimbing tree" at my backyard. This tree is flowering now. The fruits can be harvested about 2 months from now.

My dearest late mom used to tell us that this plant is not that easy to germinate. This tree will bear thousands of fruits and hundreds of ripe fruits may fall to the ground, but you almost never find a baby plant sprouting from the ground. It's true. I planted this tree about ten years ago and thousands of fruits later, I have not seen any baby plant sprouting! I actually planted it from the seeds. I was out walking one evening and saw this belimbing tree growing at one of the houses around my area with lots of fallen fruits on the ground. So I picked two ripe ones and took it home to try my luck. Within a week two plants sprouted! I was lucky, I guess. A few weeks later one of the plants wilted and only one remain. When it is much bigger at about 8 to 10 inches in height, I transplanted it on the ground, keeping my fingers crossed that it would survive. It did! Ten years later, thousands of fruits later, this tree remain as my favourite plant!

These two photos was taken a couple of months back when the tree is full of fruits. I once harvested about 12kg of fruits in one picking !

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