When the bitter gourd (ampalaya) sprouted at the corner of our small plot of land, we were surprised. In that corner, we throw kitchen biodegradable stuff and the bitter gourd must have been one tough veggie to have started to grow.

I was following its growth for the first couple of weekends, coaxing it to climb the nearby coffee tree. Soon my mother-in-law had strategically placed some wires to help it along. I saw the stage where the small, yellow flowers were turning into the vegetable.


I was not able to check it out for one weekend and so I was truly surprised when I was told that they were already able to harvest two good-sized ampalaya and had it for dinner! We initially thought these were the baby bitter gourds but they were actually the regular ones. Nice!

Last weekend, I was able to see the plant. It's growing rather well! And the leaves are even bigger than the regular ones. A couple of gourds were healthily growing along.

I was amazed. I was actually spotted by the neighbor just standing there, staring at the growth. She commented on how the ampalaya was nicely growing along. They also tried to plant this, but did not have much success.

Just standing there, looking at the plant, made me realize how amazing the packaging of these veggies are. You pick the fruit, throw the stuff that's not edible, and these things return to the soil, and the seeds even grow. No wastage. How incredible is that!

Our next experiment: plant baby eggplants! I bought these from the local market. The seller said I should just have these dried, harvest the seeds, and plant them. But my mother-in-law said that these were not yet ripe when picked, so the seeds are useless. But still, I took some to Manila and have it dried there for experiment purposes.

Technorati tags: Baguio, vegetables
cross-posted at baguio-city.net

Just last night, I was able to watch Discovery Channel's Planet Green, a TV show on our impact on the environment, what scientists are doing about it, and how we can be more green in our lives.

Last night's episode was about renewable sources of energy. The sun is still by far a powerful source of energy that we are not utilizing much of. I should get a pen and paper next time I catch the next episode. The facts and figures presented are simply amazing!


Then there's the use of hydrogen as an alternative versus fossil fuels. Did you know that the sun is one big hydrogen ball? Well, that's one of the concerns with hydrogen ... containing it and making it safe. Well, one scientist in the US just discovered a way to do this. It was by accident... he mixed aluminum with gallium to form an alloy. Aluminum, when exposed to air, creates a film of aluminum oxide on its surface which prevents it from corroding. Gallium strips off the protective layer. The scientist then accidentally dropped the aluminum rod into water. This contact immediately resulted in a chemical reaction... the metal aggresively released bubbles: bubbles of hydrogen! What a simple solution! Tests are underway for this alloy to be mass-produced as pellets and then we can have hydrogen on demand! All one needs is water to get to the hydrogen. By end of 2008, we can see golf carts using this technology for starters.

And then there was also a section on ethanol. Here is a more complex story, because ethanol was being produced from corn kernels in Mexico whose people also use it extensively for tacos. With the demand for ethanol came a price increase of corn, prompting the concern for sustaining both the environment and the basic needs of people: food. And so scientist tried out ways to generate ethanol from biological waste products instead (wood shavings, vegetable and lawn matter). What they came up with is a genetically-manipulated lacto bacilli that will turn these organic waste into ethanol. Now, here is another issue in place, especially in our country where Catholicism has a strong influence and it totally disagrees with genetic manipulation. But that is a different story altogether...

Tune in to Planet Green on the Discovery Channel every Tuesday at 10PM for more mind-boggling green wonders!

Related links (didn't read these though):
Cleantech: Gallium and aluminum tigers in your tank?
Physorg.com: New process generates hydrogen from aluminum alloy to run engines, fuel cells

We went back to the Orchidarium just last weekend top buy additional compost and herbs. The pathway from the biking area entrance actually goes left and right; we usually take the right path which goes to the main entrance and the stores which we frequent. But this time around, we tried the other path.

We were delighted by what we saw. Landscaped areas!