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Post by woodeye on Sept 17, 2022 17:13:01 GMT -6
macmex, that is what I have been wanting to hear...
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Post by rdback on Oct 1, 2022 7:37:11 GMT -6
Here's a pic of the first fruit on my sponge gourd plant I took the other day. I call the upper one Snowballs, and the lower one Chance.
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Post by woodeye on Oct 1, 2022 7:48:51 GMT -6
Good Going, rdback. Love their names! That's a good one...
I haven't been outside yet this morning to check on my deer snacks, I've stopped naming them so I can get through the grief of loss a little easier...
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Post by chrysanthemum on Oct 1, 2022 21:04:57 GMT -6
@rdback, maybe you’d just better plan on eating those young instead of getting sponges. It took me a minute on the names, and then it clicked. When did you sow the seed? I’m curious as to why they’re just beginning to set fruit so late in your season.
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Post by macmex on Oct 2, 2022 5:42:41 GMT -6
Last week I cut an immature loufah fruit and brought it home to eat, but then it got lost in the shuffle until it was too tough for cooking. I then set it out where we've been feeding deer (neighbor's property). I noticed that they skipped over it. Apparently loufah is not high on the deer's list.
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Post by woodeye on Oct 2, 2022 6:40:23 GMT -6
Last week I cut an immature loufah fruit and brought it home to eat, but then it got lost in the shuffle until it was too tough for cooking. I then set it out where we've been feeding deer (neighbor's property). I noticed that they skipped over it. Apparently loufah is not high on the deer's list. I'm sorry that you lost track of the luffa fruit for awhile, macmex, but it's great to hear that deer can perhaps be picky eaters...
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Post by rdback on Oct 2, 2022 11:16:39 GMT -6
@rdback, maybe you’d just better plan on eating those young instead of getting sponges. It took me a minute on the names, and then it clicked. When did you sow the seed? I’m curious as to why they’re just beginning to set fruit so late in your season. I was just germ testing the seed, lol. I went ahead and planted it on a spent bean trellis around 8/01, thought being it will make good compost material. Didn't really count on any fruit. Nice to see it's willing to produce though!
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Post by chrysanthemum on Oct 2, 2022 14:25:33 GMT -6
You sound like me. If something has a chance to grow, even if I know it won’t produce, I let it grow. It’s probably why I’m bad about germination testing seed. I always end up trying to grow it, whether it makes sense or not. Your plan just to use it for compost makes sense, but now you’ve got Snowball’s and Chance, and if you’re as much of a softie as I am, you’ll let them keep growing because you have to give them the opportunity to do their thing, even if it’s not realistic.
I have four luffas currently on my vines, but my vines are starting to die now pretty rapidly. There’s a lot of browning on the leaves, and they just appear to be drying up. The luffas aren’t drying up yet, though, so I’m leaving them as long as I can. I don’t have any worries about frost just now.
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Post by macmex on Oct 19, 2022 7:16:42 GMT -6
Well a day ago we had a heavy frost and last night the temperature went down to 23 F. Warm weather crops are finished here! I haven't had time to glean the way I usually do. That's been hard, letting stuff go, but yesterday before leaving work I did pick these loofahs. I'm sure there are a lot more to get. Some were over 2' long. I stashed them on my sun porch where they won't freeze for a few more weeks.
My wife is going to be really happy when she can use one to make a new back scratcher and some pot scrubbies.
There are more than one variety of loofah. I don't know what this one is called. Before, I grew angled loofah, which has sharper edges than does this one. I'm very happy with this one. Angled loofah was also good. After growing loofah I always say that I just have to grow it every year for the "feel good" effect of having something that dependably grows and produces in our heat. Loofah is definitely a "feel good crop," as long as it has irrigation.
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Post by woodeye on Oct 19, 2022 8:50:55 GMT -6
Outstanding is a mild way to put it, macmex . I'm thrilled to see that you have a carload of luffas. It took you and the forces of Mother Nature to tame those man-eating luffa plants you grew this year. That is beyond Cool.
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Post by macmex on Oct 20, 2022 9:35:35 GMT -6
This is what I picked yesterday. I picked some more today and there are still more to come.
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Post by woodeye on Oct 20, 2022 12:07:14 GMT -6
macmex, if that is not a WOW!, then there is no such thing.
I don't think that you will ever need to wish for scrubbers again, good going!
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Oct 20, 2022 20:15:37 GMT -6
Anything that did well this year deserves a 'Feel Good' award! Way to go, George!
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Post by amyinowasso on Oct 21, 2022 9:05:52 GMT -6
I grew luffa in the early 80s, but I've slept since then and don't remember, do squash pests bother them? How do you handle getting the fiber out? I DO remember they're slimey inside (maybe I should have let them dry fully.) I read about someone who peeled them and put them in the washing machine. I was afraid I'd ruin the washer. I'm not sure I ever got usable fiber.
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Post by macmex on Oct 21, 2022 10:17:21 GMT -6
I have only grown them once before, so am no expert, but what I did was let the fruit dry out on their own, storing them on my sun porch until they were so dry that I could shake them and hear the seed rattle inside. Then, I cut both ends off of the gourd, taking a couple inches off of each end. I think I used a bread knife for this. Once the ends were off, I shook the seeds out. They came out easily. Once the seeds were out I submerged the empty fruit in water for something like 1/2 hour before peeling the outer skin off. Once peeled I dried them and they were ready.
At that point one could use them whole or cut them into chunks, depending on the purpose they have for them.
When I was in my early 20s I remember purchasing a copy of Rodale's Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening, one of the editions from the 1950s. I remember they mentioned that loufah fiber had been used for air filters in certain applications for US Naval vessels. My wife's favorite use for a dried loofah is as a back scratcher. She puts it on a stick and finds that it works wonderfully.
I have not observed any pests on the loufah I've grown: not a single one.
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