Adventures in Luffa Growing

 

Last summer, Blaine and I grew a luffa (loofah) plant. My sister Janie gave me the little green plant. It was about six inches tall, but when we put the little roots into our fertile soil, it took off like a race horse out of the gate. Tendrils clung to the woven wire fence as the vine grew...and grew...and grew, spreading out both ways from the root a total distance of about 30 feet. Bright yellow flowers bloomed along the way. Then the petals dropped off and tiny gourds appeared, soon growing into big ones. This little plant was thirsty; we sometimes watered it twice a day.

My research advises the time to harvest the gourds is before the frost, after they turn yellow, but only a few were yellow by the time it frosted. I picked the rest of the green gourds and hung them on a drying rack. When the gourds were ready, I banged them on a flat surface to loosen the seeds. I then peeled off the thick skin in strips. The most fun part of the harvest was shaking the loose seeds out of the gourds. Each little seed seemed to be encased in a cellophane wrapper, which dried and dropped off.

Now I have a pile of sponges to be used in a variety of ways. They can be used as a dish sponge or as a shower sponge, but more research warns that natural sponges may harbor bacteria, just like other sponges, and should be cleaned or discarded regularly. 

We saved several seeds and will probably plant some again next year, just because we enjoyed watching them grow.

Greenhouse

Several people whom I met online recently expressed an interest in my husband Blaine's greenhouse, so I thought my blog might be the easiest way to share the story. Every year my husband saves seeds from two heirloom tomato varieties that we can not find in seed catalogs: Red Wolf and German Giant.

Here is the greenhouse. It is just a lean-to built of clear siding on our garage.  He recycled a door that was in the shed. You can see our garden spot in the right background.

 He starts the seeds all together in a couple of covered plastic containers in the house. When the seedlings came up, just about and inch or so tall, he takes them to the greenhouse to be transplanted.

Using a butter knife, Blaine scoops up the individual plants and plants them in their own little compartments in the plant containers, which he recycles from year to year.

Fans blowing on the plants make their stems sturdy, an  exhaust fan automatically comes on if the temperature is too high in the greenhouse, and a space heater keeps the temperature from getting too low.

There are mini blinds on the south side that he can also close if he needs to. These little baby plants will grow into large plants that will produce big, juicy red tomatoes.

Feel free to comment or ask questions below.