Ailssa’s Travel Theme Challenge: Fruit

Viv and I visited her friends’ family garden two weeks ago. We gathered several kinds of Asian vegetables and one of them was bittermelon fruits and tops. Asians particularly like bittermelons and they are prepared in so many ways. Salad, soups, steamed, sauteed – they are very versatile. As the name implies, it is bitter and it’s an acquired taste but they say it is very good for diabetics and other health benefits. Commercially they now sell tea made from the leaves and those fortunately are not bitter.

Two Sundays ago, we dropped by the Oak Park Conservatory. It is a small building with a stamp-size outdoor garden but filled with surprises. It is a beautiful place to visit with family and it is nice that they also have a bench where you can reflect or just enjoy the beauty of their plant collection. They also have a tiny pond or artificial brook with huge kois and a family of turtles. Among my favorite in the garden is this Ponderosa lemon. Still unripe so they are green but notice the size. Am sure one fruit is enough for a pitcher of lemon juice, don’t you think?

My entry to Ailssa’s Challenge for the Week: Fruit.