In this video, I give you 12 food crops plus more that I am growing in the vegetable garden over Christmas.
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Self Sufficient Me is based on our small 3-acre property/homestead in SE Queensland, Australia, about 45kms north of Brisbane – the climate is subtropical (similar to Florida). I started Self Sufficient Me in 2011 as a blog website project where I document and write about backyard food growing, self-sufficiency, and urban farming in general. I love sharing my foodie and DIY adventures online, so come along with me and let’s get into it! Cheers, Mark 🙂
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44 Comments
G'day and Merry Christmas Everyone! Thanks for all your support this year, and I'm looking forward to "getting into it" in 2025. Cheers 🙂
Flat leaf parsley going awesome one day then rained and lost it completely. Flooded 😢
Did you know that nut grass/Nutsedge Tubers are completely edible and delicious! Fight back by eating those suckers
My kids would never eat Brussells Sprouts or cabbage because they said they were too bitter until my Nanna simmered them with a teaspoon of sugar for about 10 mins. Try it with the gourds, you never know. Cheers and happy Christmas and New Year.
That question caught you like a reindeer in the headlight😂 anyhow I was there at that talk and really enjoyed it.
Another great vid👍 .
Hey mark,do you make any of your own liquid fertilisers???
Liquid manures? Banana peel and comfrey? Onion skins? Mexican sunflower?
Merry Christmas from Houston Tx! I love your videos as your summer problems are so similar to ours. I really appreciate these walkthroughs! I've gotten some awesome ideas from you; perpetual spinach in particular has served me very well all year around. The weather is still nice here and we're getting tomatoes and peppers still. I am sorry, I have no knowledge of bitter gourd but I wish you success in finding a use for it.
Question on the eggplant – is that the "piccolo" variety? It looks similar and is an heirloom.
Another question – have you had any success with "summer" squashes grown this time of year?
You're the best! And your garden assistant is adorable.
Love your programme. Weeds are my problem, how do I get rid of oxalis?
Hello Bella! Merry Christmas ❤❤❤
Greetings from Texas, US
Have you considered putting straw or similar in your boggy areas during the rainy season?
I really enjoy getting info from watching your videos. Thanks!!
Thank you Marc!very merry holidays to you ! Best regards 😍
Whack some maple syrup in the pan with your gourd 😅
Bitter gourd is good for the liver
The only thing good to do with bitter gourd is to give it away to your Asian neighbours.
If you just put some shade cloth up you can grow stuff like bok choy and salad greens quite easily through out summer too. They just won’t grow big but still tasty.
Boy boy I get jealous of your rain. I live in Western Australia and we get rain about 6 slimes a year and it is nearly enough to water a lawn or my garden. I spend so much on water it’s crazy. I have just started using some old fridges and freezes for raised garden beds. I know they won’t last forever but for now they will do for my sugar cane and some other invasive plants. I would love to grow apples as we eat a heap of apples. However, I was told to make apples grow I would need to put the plants in a chiller for about 3 months a year 😂.
Cook the bitter melon with black bean sauce. Slice it up and stir fry it with the sauce. It’s great.
No grape tomatoes this year? I'm just south of Brisbane and I find scarlet runner beans and lima beans love the wet, humid weather that we've been having
I see why you had trouble coming up with what grows in your 'winter'. I hope you can get on top of those weeds and clear out some room to actually grow some vegetables that didn't just come up on their own. We aren't quite tropical here in GA but we do get very hot in the summer. Peppers, eggplant and melons grow great. I would get rid of all those veggies you don't really like, you can get rid of anything but you have to stay on top of it. I would stop planting everything and work, bed by bed on those weeds. Good luck.
Mark with your fruiting plants, if you want to avoid having pests ruining them before you harvest, I use some reusable mesh fruit bags that I cover over any fruits to protect them from bugs and other pests. Could be super helpful to protect your eggplants over summer 🤗 I even use them to protect my cherry tomatoes.
Loving the videos! It’s so hard growing stuff in the tropics so it’s great to see what works for you to give me ideas 🤩
Merry Christmas.
I love garden tour videos ❤ thank you so much. Merry Christmas and happy new year.
I can only eat a few bitter melons in my family for the health benefits, but I can’t say it’s the best veggie ever. The rest of my family can’t stand it. I stuff ground pork in it and cook soup style, stuffed and chop up to fry each side, and thinly sliced to stir fry with eggs. My mom drinks it in her 5 veggies smoothie. My sis-in-law eats it raw!!!
Good day from Mackay
Mark, I’m from Guyana, South America and that bitter gourd is a regular vegetable called Carilla/Carillie and I absolutely love it. We usually cook it straight with shrimp or any kind of meat or smoked fish , fresh herbs, tomatoes etc and eat with rice However you can salt it and squeeze some of the juice out , however, all the good stuff is actually in the juice. The leaves we use as a medicine. We actually make the leaves into tea bags and use for medicine, good for blood purity , lower blood pressure etc. another way, is to stuff it with fresh shrimp, herbs, etc and cook in ccocnut milk curry sauce, this is called Kalonjie very delicious. I will say that it is an acquired taste. Smile😊 have a wonderful holiday
Oh you can also pickle it With limes and chilies, and it is a great addition to hot sauces as well.
If those cucumbers turn out the way you want, you can patent and sell the seeds. I'd be interested, utah can get pretty hot.
with the bitter gourd maybe try a sweet pickle? the vinegar and sugar might help cut the bitterness. I haven't grown/eaten them so can't say for sure though
Merry Christmas and and a blessed New Year!!🎄❄️🎁✝️🙏❤😊
In Malaysia we make bitter gourd tempura chips. You can dry it or dip 'em in the flour and deep fry 'em or just do how you like but make it chips. yummyy
I’ve really been struggling to get eggplant seeds started, any tips?
What a clown electroculture
So much to be grown in Summer in this horrible hot humid weather. One thing I have yet to see you grow is watermelon, and I reckon you should give it a crack in your gourd tunnel mate. Wouldn't that be awesome, lovely melons hanging down? I have got some cucamelon growing this year. It's surviving thus far!
I love your show. I am currently trying to grow food in containers inside my apartment, some is going really good and still learning. I used to live in Surfers Paradise in AU and man do i miss it. I live in South Dakota now, but if I could Id definitely come back to AU!
It's great to see you again. For some reason, Youtube wasn't showing me your vids even though I'm subscribed. The algorithm should be more predictable and reliable! Subscribed = show me! Anyway, glad to see you again. I'm in my Florida winter and prepping for next summer.
The nut of nut sedge is related to the original, spiced, nut milk of Mexico, Horchata. Today, made with rice. Something to consider as a crop or turning under an infested bed.
As for weed control, pull often and regularly. The nut will regenerate after three sets of apposing leaves. Keep pulling until the nut can't reproduce.
Hey man I got a real good recipe that the kids like if you want it I will send it to you.
Pavakkai Paruppu Kootu
(Bitter Gourd Dal, Bitter Melon Dal, Karela Daal)
Bitter melon
, also known as
bitter gourd
or
bitter squash
is a nutritious vegetable good for diabetic patients.There are many varieties differing in shape, size and color. This is a native vegetable of India and is used in awide variety of preparations.
The vegetable is known for its strong bitter taste. In most preparations, it is combined with other ingredients likeyogurt, tamarind, coconut etc. to mask its bitterness. In today's recipe, bitter melon is cooked along with lentils.
My kids do not eat this because of its bitter taste, so I tried this recipe and my kids enjoyed it. The added jaggery (Brown Sugar)and dhal reduced the bitterness of bitter melon making it as our favorite bitter melon recipe.
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 25 minutes
Serves: 4
Ingredients
Bitter melon or Bitter gourd – 4 to 5 numbers
Toor Dhal (or Moong Dal) – 1 cup
Turmeric Powder- 1 tsp
Tamarind Juice – 3/4 cup
Jaggery powder – 2 to 3 tsp
Coconut – 1 cup (grated)
Onion- 1 (chopped)
Tomatoes – 2 (chopped)
Coriander leaves – one handful
Salt – as necessary
For Tempering
Sunflower Oil – 2 tbsp
Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
Cumin seeds – 1 tsp
Channa dal – 1 tsp
Urid dal – 1 tsp
Green chilies – 3 numbers
Dry red chilies – 4 numbers
Curry Leaves – 10 leaves
Asafoetida (or Hing) – 1 tsp
Method
1.
First clean and remove the inner parts (including seeds) of bitter melon. Cut the bitter melon intoround shaped pieces and keep it aside.
2.
Now in a pan, put some sunflower oil and put those bitter melon pieces and sprinkle some salt overit and fry them till its golden colour.
3.
Remove bitter melon from oil and keep it aside.
4.
In a pressure cooker, put dal (moong dhal or toor dhal), pinch of salt, turmeric powder and cookuntil the dhal is cooked. Switch it off after 5-6 whistles.
5.
Heat another pan and add sunflower oil. When the oil gets heated, add mustard seeds, cumin seeds,channa dhal, urid dhal, dry red chillies, green chillies and curry leaves. Add some asafoetidapowder also.
6.
Now add turmeric powder, chopped onion, salt and saute it well. The onions have to becometransparent.
7.
Add red chilli powder and chopped tomatoes. Mix well.
8.
Now add tamarind juice and allow to cook for about 3 minutes.
9.
Add some jaggery powder into it and then add the fried bitter melon.
10.
Add the already cooked dal and grated coconut. Mix everything well and allow it to cook for 2 to 3minutes.
11.
Sprinkle some chopped coriander leaves and switch off the stove.
Serving Pavakkai Paruppu Kootu
This makes a great side dish with white rice or chapatti.
Tips
If you soak the dal before cooking, you may need to reduce the cooking time (number of whistles inthe pressure cooker) accordingly.
Trial the bitter gorde as a sweet relish.
I've actually found that a lot of the bitterness of the bittergoard is in the skin, so if you peel it and cook it in a skillet with butter and everything bagel low and slow until lightly browned, it comes out fairly decent. I also hate the bitterness, but the pickleworms in my area prevent me from growing any other variety of cucerbit and forced me to adapt by growing something I don't like as much. This year I will try growing eggplant for the first time as another alternative to squash/cucumbers.
Bitter gourd, we know it as karela, the Indian name. Can't stand it, I'm with U Mark! 😵💫 Had it in Indian curry form, it's used a lot but it's such a funky taste, the pips stay hard and crunchy when cooked! 🤢 Just an awful veg!
Thanks for the video Mark. Used the discount code for some Survival Seeds Australia. Was about to get some anyway and got an extra $11 off. Bonus 😊
Will buy some of your merch in the new year to support your awesome channel. Hope you get the colourful shirts for sale at some point. My partner and I both love your channel and gives us inspiration with what we are doing. Go Navy 😉 😂👌🏼✌🏼
Happy New Year to you and your family mate 🎉
Love this! Also perennial crops = free food. Thanks Mark, for reminding me that reclaimed seeds can be sowed, you don’t necessarily have to buy them.
Don’t corn roots grow almost straight down? Also they need to grow close to each other to germinate….don’t transplant…
12:26 Cool Crab spider 😄