162 Young Vine Pumpkin Flowers Can Be Eaten?

“Grandma, do you have pumpkins now?”

During breakfast, Gu Qingming drank two bowls of porridge and ate two steamed eggs. She thought of the pumpkins in her space and asked her grandmother.

Grandma Shi said, “It’s June and July now. Yes, we can eat pumpkins. There are two ripe pumpkins in the vegetable garden. I’ll pick them up later and prepare them for you!”

“No, Grandma,” Gu Qingming asked again. “Actually, I wanted to ask if pumpkin leaves can be eaten. I heard that pumpkin leaves can be eaten.”

“Hehe…” Grandma said with a smile, “So my Ming’er wants to eat pumpkin leaves. It’s not that pumpkin leaves are edible. Usually, we eat the petiole under the leaves. Remove the leaves and then pull off the outer skin of the petiole. After cleaning the petiole, you can stir-fry it and eat it. If you like spicy food, you can stir-fry it with chili. It tastes better. If you don’t like spicy food, just put a few garlic pieces to stir-fry. It tastes good.”

Gu Qingming asked curiously, “What about pumpkin flowers?”

“Haha, there are even more methods for preparing pumpkin flowers.” Grandma saw her granddaughter’s curiosity and explained, “Pumpkin flowers can be made into stir-fried pumpkin flowers, pumpkin flower soup, and fried eggs with pumpkin flowers. They taste good too.”

Gu Qingming rolled her eyes and said, “Then Grandma, are pumpkin leaves and pumpkin flowers sold on the market?”

“Of course!” Grandma smiled and said, “The pumpkin leaves are two dollars each. The pumpkin flowers are also tied up and sold for one or two dollars each. However, there are only five or six of them. It’s definitely not enough to stir-fry a plate.”

At this point, Grandma paused for a moment and said with a smile, “Since you want to eat pumpkin leaves and pumpkin flowers. I’ll go to the vegetable garden to pick some later.”

Gu Qingming immediately said with great interest, “Grandma, I’ll go with you!”

“Haha, as long as you’re not afraid of bugs, we’ll go together!” Grandma laughed.

She now knew that fear of creepy crawlies ran in the Gu family.

At the mention of bugs, Gu Qingming’s scalp went numb, but her interest still overcame her fear.

She said, “I’m not afraid now. I want to take a look.”

“Yes, if you want to go, then let’s go together,” Grandma said with a smile.

The vegetable garden that her grandmother mentioned was not far from the Shi family.

It was in the backyard of her grandmother’s residence.

She followed her grandmother to the vegetable garden.

Gu Qingming estimated that this vegetable garden was about four to five hundred square meters. Yes, it was quite big.

The vegetable garden was even surrounded by a fence. There were also some vines that she did not recognize climbing on the fence. Gu Qingmin assumed it should be some kind of vegetable.

Behind the fence was a small ditch.

Grandma had built two small sheds on it.

There were actually two jujube trees and loquat trees planted in the garden, as well as a plum tree.

These trees were not very big and could not block the light in the garden.

“Grandma, this place looks bigger.” Gu Qingming asked, “How many acres of land is this?”

Her backyard was said to be more than 10 acres of land, but it didn’t look very big.

“Pfft!” Grandma laughed. “How many acres of land? How can there be so much here? It’s only 60 to 70 fen, about 1 acre.”

“Oh!” Gu Qingming nodded. It was a little embarrassing for someone who had learned mathematics to make such a low-level mistake.

Looking at the dazzling variety of vegetables, Gu Qingming exclaimed again, “There are many vegetables planted here! There are more varieties than the last time I went to cut chives with you.”

Grandma nodded and said, “Yes, there’s more land here and it’s close to home. It’s more convenient to pick vegetables, so there are more.”

Gu Qingming pointed at a familiar seedling on the fence and asked, “Grandma, is this a pumpkin?”

However, although the pumpkin’s growth was not as fierce and shocking as in the space, it was still gratifying. Clearly, it had been carefully managed.

The pumpkins overflowed the fence and climbed along one of the sheds.

The huge leaves stood tall, and the flowers were faintly discernible. There was also a green pumpkin the size of a plate on the shed.

Grandma nodded and said, “Yes, this is a pumpkin. Ming’er, don’t come over. I’ll go behind the fence and pick some pumpkin flowers and those tender leaves and vines.”

“Can vines be eaten too?” Gu Qingming asked in confusion.

“It’s not that the vines can be eaten, but the tender and thin vines on the tips of these tails are even more tender and delicious than pumpkin leaves. Since we’ve already plucked them, we’ll make dishes with them.” Grandma explained, “It’s just that the hair on these tender vines is very difficult to get and will take some time. However, we have a lot of people in our family, so it’s still very fast to prepare some of these.”

Her grandmother opened the back door of the fence as she spoke.

The fence was next to a small ditch, so they had to go through it to pick it.

A plank had been set up behind the fence.

Gu Qingming followed.

Grandma took a look and said, “Didn’t I tell you to stay there?”

Gu Qingming smiled and said, “I want to pick pumpkin leaves and pumpkin flowers too!”

Grandma glanced at her fair and tender hands, shook her head, and said with a smile, “There’s hair on this pumpkin vine, and it’s prickly. If your tender hands are pricked, they’ll definitely itch. You’d better not pluck it!”

Gu Qingming, who was about to reach out to pick a leaf, stopped.

Grandma continued, “Besides, there might be some bugs hidden under the pumpkin leaves.”

Gu Qingming lowered her hand.

Forget it, she would just watch from the side and not cause trouble.

Grandma quickly picked some tender leaves, tender vines, and pumpkin flowers, which filled her basket.

Gu Qingming took a look and asked, “Why did you pluck so much?”

Grandma said, “Don’t think this is too much. Once it is prepared and cooked, t’s just one or two plates. We have a lot of people in our family who like to eat. We’ll definitely need to pick more. At noon, ask your second aunt to make stir-fried pumpkin flowers and pumpkin flower soup. Try it first. If you like it, we’ll come back tomorrow to pick more. We’ll fry eggs with pumpkin flowers and try all kinds of cooking methods.”

Gu Qingming asked in confusion, “There are so many flowers? Don’t you want to keep them to grow pumpkins?”

“Haha, Ming’er, the pumpkin flowers I picked haven’t been pollinated. They can’t bear fruit.” Grandma smiled and said, “Don’t look at how many pumpkin flowers there are, there are only a few that can bear fruit. Those pumpkin flowers that can bear fruit have a small bud behind them.”

Grandmother explained as she pointed a finger at a pumpkin flower.

Gu Qingming saw that there was indeed a small bud under the pumpkin flower. It was only the size of a thumb.

“And a pumpkin vine shouldn’t bear too many pumpkins. If there are too many pumpkins, they will fight for nutrients, and the pumpkins won’t be sweet. A pumpkin vine will bear three or four pumpkins, and that will be enough. If there’s any excess, we’ll pinch it off!”

Gu Qingming nodded and said, “Oh, I see!”

Gu Qingming pointed at a small shed and asked curiously, “Grandma, what gourd is that?”

“That’s winter melon!”

“What’s that thing with the pole?”

“Sponge gourd!”