BACKYARD BUSH FARM

From the bush farm -- papayas are everywhere...almost every neighbor's backyard farm has a papaya tree, abundant with fruit!

Our produce -- French beans...always good for a quick stir-fry.

Capsicum (bell peppers) -- one of the plants that aren't overwhelmed by those little orange critters!

These pretty French beans are now producing abundant fruit...but picking them in the hot tropical sun is a "do-it-as-fast-as-i -can" job -- and still, i end up sweating up a storm!

Little Kani, posing with "Maia's capsicum" -- seeds mailed all the way from San Diego, now bearing fruit in Naselesele!

Searing heat and too much rain made it a short growing season for the cucumbers...but the French beans and tomatoes are doing well.

"Maia's cucumbers" -- short and fat...and delicious!

Typical farm scenics in Taveuni...

My backyard, closer to home...a view of the mango tree, treehouse and Ana's laundry from the house window...

Cooking up a lovo -- underground oven -- for what occasion, i've forgotten...au sa qase!

San Diego BACKYARD - Summer Visit

The sayote was a welcome sight to come home to -- Mom's and Uncle's summer garden is like a bit of Taveuni... green, green, green!

Traditional CHRISTmas colors of red and green -- displayed in summertime. The two gardeners harvest something almost every day... which ends up in Mom's cooking pot, and i get to be the blessed recipient of tasty Filipino dishes! Paksiw with veges, diningding, tinolang upo, pinakbet...

Being surrounded by all this (ampalaya and sayote vegetables; impatience, stargazer, spider plants) is like being immersed in a green cave...

Kalamansi is still bearing fruit... year-round it seems!

Not-so-spicy chiles... just right for me, but too tame for my Fijian and Mexican friends.

i just munch on these right off the vine... can't get any fresher!

Summer squash -- or upo/tabugaw, in Filipino -- great any way you cook them!

Uncle Ric's handiwork -- my favorite area in the garden, where i sometimes bring my breakfast, coffee, or lunch -- just absorbing the chlorophyll (hah!)...

Mom's watery pets... they rush to her whenever she comes around!

Priceless sight...

The gardeners -- Rosita and Ricardo -- whom GOD blessed with green thumbs.

Then the LORD GOD planted a garden in Eden in the east, and there He placed the man He had made. (Genesis 2:8) GOD -- the first and ultimate Gardener... and Creator of man.

My BACKYARD Fun...AND Mangoes!

My private space... when the sun is scorching hot and the humidity makes one melt like ice-cream under the sun -- my treehouse is a cool place to catch the Taveuni Island breezes.

Mango blooms, with a mango still hangin' in there -- not yet "attacked" by bats.

Baby mangoes...

Still very green... two more months to go!

"The Three Muskeeters" -- Kani, Jo, Mersiale -- just havin' a good time...

Sa oca sara ga from too much kidding around! Finally, my moment of quiet as they took their after-school nap...Children are a gift from the LORD; they are a reward from Him. (Psalm 127:3)

My "NEW" Backyard TREEHOUSE

Brightly colored plants just planted to cover muddy eyesore...

"Japanese table" painted two years ago recycled as treehouse floor, with a vakaViti Bible verse all around...

My picnic lunch (uto, cassava, fried egg, boiled vudi) in the ice-cream container, passion fruit juice, water for vuluvulu, and a borrowed Bible (NT Recovery Bible by Witness Lee) makes a lovely lunch! (Only one fly came uninvited!)

Kani trying his best (or charming his way) to get up the tree... but no can do!

View of other backyards... and scenic tropics in the background.

Vili-built treehouse... especially for moi!

Pretty DETAILS from My (NEW) BACKYARD

ColorFUL foliage brightens the backyard garden in Naselesele Village...

GOD's flowers in bloom...

Bright sunburst of yellow in these leaves...

Paw-paw within my arm's reach...

A type of bird-of-paradise... and Taveuni -- Fiji -- is a type of paradise indeed!

Baigani -- eggplant from Ana's backyard "farm"...

Little Kani in the tree (the little maqe!), with Filomena looking for her playmate...

Ariadna's gift of pajamas (the pink Minnie Mouse outfit with its bon voyage), now young Miri's own...

We save a lot of money by taking advantage of GOD's gracious gift -- free sun... hot EVERY day!

My NEW Backyard -- NASELESELE -- Taveuni, FIJI

View from my window (at Naselesele Village, Taveuni -- Fiji) of the mango tree, which is bearing flowers and small mango fruits again... its second fruit-bearing season for the year. YAY!!! GOD is good inDEED! Our Father in Heaven knows i LOVE mangoes!

Future "rest stop" from the most-times oppressive heat and humidity...

Our neighbor Kuro and Katerina's side yard... no electricity-run dryer needed here! (Please follow/subscribe to this BACKYARD blog to see more of the real Fiji.)

BITTER Melon -- AMPALAYA

Blossom of the bitter melon... also called ampalaya in Filipino, karela in Indian, cerasse in Caribbean and South American.

The ampalaya is a "tropical and subtropical vine of the family Cucurbitaceae" -- so growing this plant in semi-arid San Diego requires a lot of man-made showers!

Momordica charantia is among the most bitter of all fruits -- but Filipinos like Mom and myself enjoy it sauteed with shrimp and garlic.

Bitter melon has been used in various Asian traditional medicine systems for a long time. Like most bitter-tasting foods, bitter melon stimulates digestion. While this can be helpful in people with sluggish digestion, dyspepsia, and constipation, it can sometimes make heartburn and ulcers worse. The fact that bitter melon is also a demulcent and at least mild inflammation modulator, however, means that it rarely does have these negative effects, based on clinical experience and traditional reports.

The pith will become sweet when the fruit is fully ripe, and the pith's color will turn red. The pith can be eaten uncooked in this state, but the flesh of the melon will be far too tough to be eaten anymore. Red and sweet bitter melon pith is a popular ingredient in some southeast Asian salads.

These red seeds will be dried for next year's planting.

For more information regarding this plant, or for culinary suggestions -- see Wikipedia.

And we know that GOD causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28) Yes... even those bitter things in life, GOD will use for His good purpose.