I would be truly happy if broccoli can grow in my backyard. But with our tropical climate, that would be impossible. However, I cannot complain that we can grow string beans, tomatoes, eggplants and bitter melons.

Bitter melon or bitter gourd is beneficial to diabetics. Thank God we have tons in our backyard that my mother grew. I swear there are times when we have bitter gourd in our dish for consecutive days. As it is one of the most common local vegetables here (Philippines) we can cook them with practically anything.

One more thing about this wonderful vine-like plant is that when it starts bearing fruit, it will only stop when the vines dry up and die. When they start coming, bitter gourd will be coming out of your ears.

After which, you just have to grow new ones from the seeds of the ripen fruit.

However, bitter gourd (or ampalaya as we call it here) may be a common vegetable (or fruit?) but it isn't everyone's favorite. Just because it is bitter.

I didn't like it as a child either. I've just learned to love it when I was a sleep-deprived college student. Because, aside from its anti-diabetes properties, bitter gourd is also known to be rich in iron and promotes the production of red blood cells.

Well, nobody in my household have diabetes but we all do love bitter gourd. Well most of us anyway. Except for my four year old son.

What about you, do you eat bitter gourd?

[In Photo: bitter gourd growing in our backyard]