Comments on: In The Garden: Growing Bitter Melon

By: Adina

Adina — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 13:10:27 +0000

Hi Alison, I have heard from a Jamaican friend that her family used the leaves to make tea. When I make teas from leaves I just stuff a few leaves into a tea ball and steap it in just boiled water. I have also read that people use the flowers to make the cerasee tea, and those flowers smell sweet in the morning, so it might be less biter.
I advise caution since I am not well versed in herbal medicine. Remember, just because it comes from a plant you can harvest doesn’t mean you can’t poison yourself with it. Here is a link I found that might be helpful to you in your reading about this plant and it curative properties. https://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=139613841820&topic=19322

By: Alison Byers

Alison Byers — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 16:55:31 +0000

Ok so…what part do we dry to make tea??? We r trying the slime on the seeds now…yummm…Please advise as I allowing this to grow wild in my yard and wish to harvest inteligently!
Thank you!

By: Adina

Adina — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 20:54:38 +0000

Hi Anne, Thanks for your comment. You are right, lots of island people know about the tea you made from this “stinky weed” plant. Jamaicans call it Cerasee which is good enough for me. Inside that little orange lantern shaped fruit are seeds coated in a bright red slimy substance. Since writing this article I have discovered that the slimy red substance on the seeds is absolutely delicious. It is sweet and so we call it garden candy. My chickens love to eat the leaves of this plant and so I make sure they get a few feet of vines every day. It is a shame so many people try to remove this useful wild plant from their properties.

By: Anne lansing

Anne lansing — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 20:34:45 +0000

I knew of bitter melon as I had seen it in oriental stores but never tried it.last month a friend of mine from honduras told me she had cured her high cholesterol a nd normalized her blood sugar(she is diabetic) in 6 weeks. Since I have the same health issues she told me what to do. She made a strong tea by boiling a weed from her garden fence. She called this weed calaica Since she is still very much alive, I decided to try after searching on the net. I do have this stink weed in my yard also. It looks exactly like the bitter melon plant. And so I can verify that this weed does have medicinal properties like the bitter melon. It puts out what looks like a little lantern fruit that ripens red.. Now I spend my time looking for this weed and drying it for winter tea but will also start eating bitter melon. The weed we both have must be a close relative to bitter melon

By: Adina

Adina — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 12:56:06 +0000

Thanks for your comment Dorothy. I hope you like it.

By: Dorothy Weinstein

Dorothy Weinstein — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 11:35:40 +0000

Cool! I love new vegetables — to to try this one!

By: Adina

Adina — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 01:33:08 +0000

Right on Sara, thanks for your comment.

By: Sara

Sara — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 01:03:02 +0000

You’ve made me curious to try it!!