Luffa's

This is our Luffa vine which i realize now I planted a little bit late however I have managed to harvest 3 reasonably large Luffa's from it  I never know where they came from until i was reading about them on Rhonda Hertzels' Down--to--Earth blog. So I got some seeds and grew my own. About mid Autumn the vine started to look a bit wilty so I decided it must be time to harvest so I removed the luffa's and put them aside to dry.

Luffa's are related to Gourds and have lovely yellow flowers. You can in fact eat them but am not sure if i would be keen when they are so great to use in the shower and also make good pot scrubbers.

Well a couple of weeks ago I set about removing the sponge from the luffa. I topped and tailed them and pealed the skin away to find the fibrous spongey section underneath. Then i washed them clean and realized the best way to get the numerous seeds out would be to bang the sponge against the side of the laundry troph. There were a lot of seeds!

Then i was left with the sponges which were a little bit squishy and wet so I put them in a hanging basket and hung them to dry in the sun.

The ends were a little bit mildewy so i put them in a bath of bleach and water and soaked them for about an hour and ......


tada............hey presto

Our new luffa !

I've done a bit of reading about them and have since discovered they should be planted in about mid -spring and the luffa's allowed to dry on the vine.  I picked mine when they were still green as winter was fast approaching and they weren't looking like they were going to dry on vine. Next year I will plant them a little earlier about the same time as pumpkins and zucchinis.

If anyone in Victoria, NSW, or SA  would like some seeds I am happy to send them to you . Please  email me if you would like some and leave your mailing address. I'll put them in the mail.

Comments are always welcome and encourage me to write so feel free to leave a comment!