Ulog 27: Cutting Up The Garden Luffa To See What I Can See

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No matter how you spell it... a Luffa is Loofah is a Loofa... and is actually a vegetable as well as a sponge. They are grown mainly for their useful fibrous tissue skeleton.

FUN FACT- Young fruits can be eaten like squash, used in stews or even used in place of cucumbers.
But the larger and longer ones are the ones we want to clean and bathe with.

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I know I need to wait to see what is inside the larger of the four luffa gourds (and I am hoping for the fibrous skeletal composition), but I really wanted to see what the smaller (and edible) ones looked like inside.

So, being the impatient person I am, I grabbed my knife and started slicing.

I am not expecting to actually use the luffa gourds that dry out for my homemade. I like to consider this harvest the test crop. I didn't actually think I could grow them.. but I did! So that part of the experiment was a success.

Now I have to wait!!

According to Garden America:

Harvest luffa sponges when they have matured on the vine, usually around the end of fall. Look for lightweight fruit with dry, dark yellow or brown skin. Leave the fruit on the vine as long as possible, but remove all luffa gourds immediately after the first frost or they will begin to rot.

If the gourd is dry, striking the luffa pod against a hard surface will loosen the skin and seeds. Slightly crushing the sponges can also loosen the skin. This is especially helpful for peeling less mature luffa with hard green skin. The skin will normally fall off easily if the luffa is fully mature

The bottom tip of the gourd can be cut off and many of the seeds can be shaken out before peeling. Use your thumbs to find a loose spot along a seam. Push in to create a tear and pull apart the skin. Tear up the seam. Try to get all the skin off as little pieces left behind tend to turn brown.

Apply water pressure from a hose sprayer to remove most of the sap color. It washes out many seeds also. Washing with soapy water in a bucket and then spraying is another option. Squeeze and shake out excess water. If your luffa fiber is very dark, or has many dark spots, soaking in a bucket of water with one cup of bleach for 3 to 5 gallons of water will remove most stains. Don't bleach longer than necessary. Rinse well.

I had the luffa gourds removed this morning because we had our first frost already. So I have them sitting on the gardening table in the corner of the kitchen and after a week or two, I will start shaking them to see if I can hear loose seeds rumbling around inside.

Hopefully I'll have some success... if not I am still making a video of the end of the test and experiment.

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