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Post by macmex on Sept 8, 2022 8:35:36 GMT -6
I'm finding loufah to be an encouragement in a tough gardening year. This planting has had no issues with insects and continues to grow at an astonishing rate. Practically every day I have to nip off twiners which are seeking to envelope the beans on their poles, yet it's obvious that the loufah is also setting fruit at an astonishing rate. I can't begin to count all the fruit!
Here are a couple photos of some fruit which are just beginning to mature and get soft.
This is just a nice photo of a nice, large fruit. There are lots of them.
Also, I love seeing all the beneficial insects which visit the loufah plants and flowers: honey bees, bumble bees, wasps and lady bugs (these are just what I saw on my last visit to the loufah patch."
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Post by woodeye on Sept 8, 2022 9:14:06 GMT -6
macmex , you & chrysanthemum are making growing luffas look too easy. I will have some planted next year, just so you all can see how it looks when somebody has to struggle to grow some...
They look great!
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Post by chrysanthemum on Sept 8, 2022 19:36:38 GMT -6
macmex , those look great. I love the photos, especially the ladybug on the cluster of buds. Luffa is definitely a “feel good” plant for me this year. woodeye , I think the lesson from our success this summer is that luffas like heat and moisture. Mine really perked up amazing after some real rain. I’ve been debating growing mine next year in a couple different places, up the railing to our deck and on a fence in the backyard. What macmex says about them standing up to his daily trimming makes me wonder if they could stand being grazed by deer if the deer had access only to one side. (They’d probably pull so hard that they’d uproot them, though. That happened to one of my tomatoes last year or the year before that I didn’t notice was growing through the garden fence.). I’d love to grow whole bunches of them because they’re so pretty, but I can’t give up too much space in my food garden for them. Here are some pictures I took this morning. The first shows the “third luffa” from earlier in the front, but there are two others definitely growing that are much more easily seen through the window than from the front. There may even be a fourth in the corner, but it’s a bit early to tell. They’re still reaching. Part of our house is a very tall two-story structure. Part is only one story, but the luffa may just reach the roof on the really tall part before the summer is over.
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Post by woodeye on Sept 8, 2022 20:41:14 GMT -6
chrysanthemum , those fruits look outstanding. Thanks for the growing info too. I firmly believe you should keep that window closed up there on the second floor, else Mr. Luffa might come visiting you in the house. The way that plant is clinging to the house and just keeps on going is unreal. Mercy!
I don't know about the deer you have, but I would not trust these deranged scavenger deer I have around here with luffas. They have only eaten 3 or 4 leaves off my Tromboncino, but since they ate all my radishes and a lot of my cucumbers, and the pickings are getting slimmer, Trombo may be in trouble...
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Post by chrysanthemum on Sept 10, 2022 6:11:10 GMT -6
That window will definitely be remaining shut, woodeye. There was a huge tarantula crawling over it the other day. Luffa vines in the house might even be kind of welcome, but I wouldn’t want to see a tarantula inside. (I have before. My children named it “TOTU” which stood for “Terrorist of the Upstairs.” My husband put it in a jar and relocated it to a far corner of the property for me. I recognize the value of arachnids, but I personally keep my distance if possible). The luffa is still reaching, and I’m thinking that the two plants may well be having a competition for reaching the roof. The one going straight up has farther to climb. The other one is actually pretty close to the single-story section of the house, but it needs to move horizontally to the get there. At this point I’m kind of rooting for that to happen, though I’m not sure the vines could really stand the heat that would come from dark asphalt shingles getting afternoon sunshine.
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Post by woodeye on Sept 16, 2022 5:50:27 GMT -6
macmex & chrysanthemum, It has been 6 days (seems like much more) since there has been a Luffa/loofah report, I'm beginning to have withdrawals.
Please tell me that all is well with your plants...
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Post by macmex on Sept 16, 2022 8:05:14 GMT -6
My loufah patch continues to put out an amazing number of loufah fruit. It's difficult to capture this in a picture as the leaves hide things so well. I don't know how many loufah I'll eventually harvest at the mature stage. Here's one of the most advanced. I believe it's beginning to dry a little.
I have heard that immature loufah is good to eat. Years ago I tried it and wasn't that impressed. I had heard it was called "Chinese okra." Well, if one were expecting okra, that would cause disappointment. However, I cut this one today, to try, perhaps in some kind of stir fry. I'll try not to think of okra. My idea is that any culture that has accumulated centuries of culinary experience is bound to make good food. Asian or Chinese cooking, should therefore, generally, be good. I just have to figure out what they do.
I agree with Chrysanthemum, louffah is a big producer as long as it gets water. If we can learn to eat the stuff it could be a real boon.
Anyone out there have a recipe?
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Post by woodeye on Sept 16, 2022 8:19:05 GMT -6
Outstanding photos and ideas, macmex. That is just so awesome, I know I would try it for supper, and I am a quick learner on good eats. I have every intention of cooking some homegrown luffa next year.
Thank you for posting this, I really appreciate it...
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Post by chrysanthemum on Sept 16, 2022 21:21:36 GMT -6
I don’t have a recipe, macmex , and I haven’t tried eating it. At this point my goal is the sponges, and I don’t have too many of those yet. When the frost date draws closer, though, if I have any young luffa fruit on the plant, I’m willing to give it a try. I like squash a lot as well as cucumbers. If this is like either of those, I’d be just fine with it. My luffa vines continue to grow, though I was surprised the other day to see a large fruit where there hadn’t been anything previously. It had, of course, just fallen from higher to lower, but it was still a bit of a shock at first sight. I have three gourds that are pretty good sized. They look similar, but if you lift them in your hands, you can definitely tell the difference. The oldest (the “third luffa” referred to earlier in the the thread) is much lighter than the others. It’s obviously drying down inside even if there aren’t so many signs on the outside just yet, though there are a few. I also have a younger luffa growing in the middle of the left-hand trellis, and possibly one growing way up high where the vine turns and goes to the side. I think if that one sizes up, it will pull the vine down off the wall. Here are some photos I took this afternoon to help woodeye avoid withdrawal from luffa pictures. One is just the whole shebang. The others just focus on each side to give a better view.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Sept 16, 2022 21:52:55 GMT -6
What a fun project! Every time I see those photos they remind me of Jack and the Beanstalk.
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Post by woodeye on Sept 16, 2022 22:11:53 GMT -6
Ahhhhh, I can relax now, a huge Thank You to macmex & chrysanthemum for supplying the much needed luffa photos & expert commentary.
Looking great, & much appreciated...
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Post by amyinowasso on Sept 17, 2022 9:48:15 GMT -6
Waiting for a report on eating that fruit. My fear was it was too big. I thought it was called okra because you ate it okra sized. BTW I have a friend who harvests before fully mature. She says when she dries the fibers for scrubbers, they aren't as scratchy.
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Post by amyinowasso on Sept 17, 2022 9:53:07 GMT -6
I googled luffa recipes and there was quite a variety. Asian and Indian. Now I'm wondering about the nutritional value.
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Post by amyinowasso on Sept 17, 2022 10:04:50 GMT -6
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Post by macmex on Sept 17, 2022 11:32:43 GMT -6
Well, I suspect it's about like summer squash. That's much the way it tastes too. I sauteed some last night and found it to be quite good. It's not as firm in the middle as some squash and the taste is slightly different, but it was good. Jerreth snuck some into some stir fry the other day and I didn't know. I thought the stir fry was fantastic.
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