New "Things"

My father-in-law is the sort of person that researches everything for months (or years) before he plants anything new and because he does this it is very rare for him to fail at any agricultural venture he tries. On the other hand.... I tend to see a plant on sale, some seeds that look interesting, a tree that I haven't imagined growing before and snap them up, throw them into the garden and hope for the best, with about a 25% success rate.
This year I followed my usual trend and planted sesame for the first time - not knowing what kind of plant it would turn out to be and of course not knowing how to harvest it at all! I think every seed I planted sprouted which meant a lot of thinning. They grew bigger and bigger with pretty pink flowers and now they are growing big and tall and have lots and lots of seed pods (which are covered in bugs). And..... I have absolutely no idea when I should harvest them and what to do with them once they are harvested! I guess I'll do a bit of research on the internet and then decide whether the effort is worth it or not..... I'm guessing I will miss the ideal harvesting time again and they will end up in the compost pile.
I also planted a fig tree last year that has a surprising amount of fruit on it this year .... if only I knew when to harvest them! Again I can see a bit of internet searching in the near future.
The final "new" plant this year is a bitter gourd which basically everyone around here grows. I have avoided growing it until now because I personally hate the taste of them. I have no problem with when to harvest them, just a huge problem with how to cook them so I don't gag when I eat them! So why did I plant them???? Because they were discounted to only 10 yen per plant.... who could resist?