Kamatis or tomato is the ever popular vegetable in the world, rightly so because of its versatility in the culinary world and also for its nutritional value. Regarded as either a fruit or a vegetable, either way, tomato is good to eat by itself or combined with other foods especially in salad or salsa.
There are hundred of varieties of tomatoes. I particularly like the heirloom kinds because it reminds me of the tomatoes we have in the Philippines, sweet, sour and juicy.
I took this picture of mangoes when I went on vacation in my hometown Iba, Zambales. This is the real mango that we know of. The rest we call Indian Mangoes. But we also have a type of mango that is huge compared to the regular variety and we call it “Dinamulag”. The word came…
Watercress is in the family of Brassicas like radish and mustard relating to their peppery flavor. It closely resembles the taste of nasturtiums and the name is the same but they are actually distant relatives and they are easy to grow. Watercress is not available in the Philippines when I was growing up so I…
More tips about lettuce, let some plants to bolt into flower. Then save the seeds for your next planting. I always do especially the ones I have right now is not available anymore in the catalogs. My old friend ordered it from Parks Seed, but they do not have it anymore. The variety is called…
I always plant Okra in my garden. It is an indispensable ingredient in the famous Filipino recipe called “Pinakbet”. I actually just cook that today. I gathered enough eggplants, bittermelons, okra and winged beans today that compelled me to make pinakbet. I also gathered some tomatoes which is also an important ingredient for pinakbet. I…
I have been gathering Swiss Chard in my garden for months now and it seems endless. I love Swiss chard. You can use them in salads when young and saute’ or stir fry those big leaves. The one variety I have is called Bright Lights because of the different colors of the stem. The leaves…
Kalabasa or pumpkin is a favorite vegetable of mine. I like to cook them in coconut milk with shrimp and a little bit of curry powder. It’s so delicious especially with ginger and lemon grass as added flavoring. It is easy to grow. When it starts to flower, you can gather the flowers too for…