Monday, September 19, 2011

A fling with the evening primrose...

Hmmm... another big typhoon is heading our way...
This time, it is Typhoon Number 15...
Anyway, in between the intermittent rains and winds, had been keeping busy at the potager...

Pulled out some 'weeds' yesterday, knowing quite well that the 'weed' is the evening primrose...
Had read about the primrose being a 'miracle' plant yet to be fully discovered...
And today, decided to check up the plant a little bit more...
Found very, very little information on how to cook the stuff...
One blog, 'Wild Blessings' stood out... 
And it says, Evening Primrose is a magnificent gift from God.  The whole plant is edible and medicinal.  This is one of those prime examples of “Letting food be your medicine and medicine be your food”.... 
Sounds very inviting...


So I thought to myself... hmmm, would like to have soup with it... perhaps cream-based?
But the chief cook (my 'suweeto-haaato', of course) vetoed and decided to boil the thing for me...
Took some bites... tough meat... feels somewhat 'sappy'...
A little bit like moroheya but not quite...
Would not say that it tastes good... 
Wifey also tried to stir-fry it... 
Still, no cigar... 
Ok, so our taste buds are not very agreeable with this 'wild, miracle' vegetable...
Very well then... taking a leaf from a Japanese homepage, we shall try to dry the leaves and make tea out of it instead...
Why not, as the evening primrose is all over our property... 
They have very pretty flowers... yellow and pink... 
Two of them, the 'straight' type and the 'creeping' type are tall and they have yellow flowers...
The third type is very short and they have very beautiful pink flowers... 
Photos? Ok, the yellow ones in a while but the pinks ones will have to wait for next season...
Anyway, will definitely try to make tea out of them...


Been enjoying our harvests continuously... meaning to say, everyday...
The fruits are the usual suspects...
Okra, peppers, moroheya, amaranth, Malabar spinach, bitter gourd, long beans, winged beans, basil, korean perilla, water spinach, Japanese yam, tomatoes... etc...
So, no repeat of 'boring' pictures... :)
Except perhaps this pumpkin with its 'whiskers' might be an exception...



The loofahs are coming on rather late for us this year... 
Blame it on the farmer for the late and slow germination of the seeds...
While the angled loofahs are popping out quite well, giving abundant fruits of 30 centimeters long, the Egyptian loofahs are not doing as well...
And like (well, almost) all things, while the man of the house prefers this type, the lady of the house opts for the other...
So, you can assume that I shall be channeling more energy on growing the Egyptian type next season... yeepeee...
And yes, I love this gourd... 
Of late, we have been putting it in curries and noodles, besides stir-frying them...

14 comments:

  1. Your photos are anything but boring. Always a joy to visit here. Looking forward to your primrose postings. I know some consider it weedy but they are a favorite of mine.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Evening primrose as weeds? Wow! I will be more than happy to have them here! hahahha...
    Take care!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Lrong, if I could I would love to grow evening primrose also! Very useful plant indeed. And yes, make sure you plant Eyptian loofah next season or else you will not have good meals hehe... Have a great day and hope that typhoon will not destroy anything.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hope you stay safe during your next typhoon. I just can't imagine weather like that. Wonderful photos as usual.

    ReplyDelete
  5. You are very funny. I'm not familiar with Evening Primrose except those in capsule form. Your pumpkin is really artistic. How did it develop whiskers?

    ReplyDelete
  6. Cat... thank you for your kind comments... shall be keeping an eye on the flowers then...

    Malar... come to think of it, I have never seen the primrose growing in Msia... I wonder why as they seem to be very versatile in adapting to various climates...

    Stephanie... you said it well... Egyptian loofahs it shall be...

    Matron... the typhoon is right in the middle of Japan now... it is raining and raining...

    One... the pumpkin whiskers? We ate that pumpkin yesterday and it tasted good...

    ReplyDelete
  7. I visited Cameron Highlands last week, your garden and this place must be alike.

    ReplyDelete
  8. rainfield... have not been to Cameron for many years now... heard that the temperature there is rising, due to too much development...

    ReplyDelete
  9. It seems that medicinal plants that is supposed to be good for homo sapiens body never agreed with homo sapiens taste bud. I have some edible flowers growing every year but I never yet eat them;-). I am not that adventerous person.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Evening primrose? I should be taking them more often! xD

    Your photos are great and never boring, Lrong. Cute pumpkin shot. :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Malay-Kadazan girl... you are quite right... if not for the 'taste', these stuff are normally bitter otherwise...

    lina... from the internet, it seems that ladies rather than men, are the main users for now... I should be using them from now... thanks for your comment on the fotos... ;)

    ReplyDelete
  12. I wonder if homemade remedies made from evening primrose plant has the same effect with capsule form. If it has, maybe we can we can use the leaves to make clear soup or herbal teas.

    I remember many years ago, people thought that eating the gingko nuts in Chinese herbal soups has the same properties/effect as taking gingko biloba extract capsules. Now we know it is different. Anyway, I don't mind the evening primrose plant as a weed in my garden either. I certainly don't mind Egyptian loofahs in Japanese curries!

    I hope Typhoon #15 has passed and sunny skies will return to your area soon.

    ReplyDelete
  13. U really have a very diverse garden.. i reckon u must haf collected seeds from all the places u haf travelled to for your garden. I have always hope to collect seeds from other countries to grown in my gdn too. :) But unfortunately, i dun get to travel much these days ...

    ReplyDelete
  14. DT... thank you for dropping by... yeap, I like to check out what seeds I can get from places I visit... it is fun to see which seeds do well in our potager and which don't...

    ReplyDelete