The Loofah Experiment

 
Have you ever wanted to grow a bath sponge? Back in 2018 I got the wild idea to try growing loofah here. I knew it would grow in this area because my mom had done it before. When she grew it though, we were living in Texas so I hadn't actually seen her plants. As I told her my plans, she smirked and told me to make sure I gave them plenty of room. I totally underestimated the degree of warning in that smirk!

I started the seeds indoors with my other garden plants. At that time we didn't have grow lights- just a row of fluorescent bulbs hanging over the plant shelves. The loofah seedlings came up at about the same time as the other squash plants. They grew pretty quickly and I was worried that we had started them too early (more on that later.) We planted the garden around the same time as we do every year and those loofah plants were a very good size. 

Just a few weeks into the garden season, I began to regret how many loofahs I had planted. They took over the trellis we had planted them by and then went for the rest of the garden! I think CR became a master of restraint that year. Even though the long vines were frustrating him at every turn, he held it together pretty well!

When the first frost warning came at the end of the growing season, I realized that I had, in fact, started those seeds too late. Some of the loofahs were still green. Even though I knew I could salvage them, I had read enough about them to know that harvesting that early would make processing them harder.

Last Harvest Before the Frost

After the harvest I spent a good week peeling and squeezing loofahs. It was a big mess and pretty time consuming. (Since then I've learned you can dry them in the oven first to help with the process but that info wasn't around when I was having a go at it.)

Soaking Loofahs in the Laundry Sink

After the hassle of getting the loofahs peeled and cleaned, I was over them. I never wanted to see another one again! I kept two of the nicest ones and swore I was going to trash the rest of them. Fortunately, a cooler head prevailed. CR took the lot and stored them away in a mesh laundry bag in the store room- where I basically ignored them- until today. Today I got a memory reminder on the blog Facebook page about the loofahs I had processed six years ago. So I went down to the store room to see and there they were, hanging on the nail where CR put them. 

Loofahs in Storage

I took one of them out of the bag to see what kind of condition it was in. It was fairly crunchy and really dry but the fibers were still interwoven and strong. So I decided to clean it up and see if it would hold up to use. In the following picture you can see what it looked like, straight from the bag.

Six Year Old Loofah

Since the loofahs have been hanging around in a damp basement, I started by sanitizing it in a mild bleach solution. There were a few seeds still clinging to the inside! After rinsing it a few times, I put it on a towel to air dry. As I'm writing this it hasn't completely dried. The texture right now reminds me of the ones that were newly harvested. I don't notice much of a difference. I'd say the storage experiment was successful!

Cleaned and Ready to Use

What I learned:

1. Loofah needs a long growing season. If I ever grow more, I will start them about 4 weeks earlier and put in bigger pots.

2. Loofah needs a lot of room. If I ever grow more, I won't plant as many and I won't put them in the vegetable garden.

3. Loofah can be frustrating to process. It helps to have a lot of patience (and a partner to talk you off the ledge.)

4. Never disregard a mother's smirk.