Anyone grow loofah? | Food Production and Preservation | Forums

I have.  I try to grow one unusual thing every season just for giggles.  I had an arbor entrance to my garden and planted a couple of vines on one side.  They grew up, over, and down the other side, choking out the cucumbers I had planted on the other side of the arbor. They have a really long growing season-I want to say like 5 months.  You definitely have to start them indoors, I started mine in March.

Grows everywhere done here. So many I used a new one for every shower I took for over a year.

Never knew people eat them.

I ended up with 7 or 8 per vine.  They are 2 1/2-3 feet long, so you end up with 4 or 5 six or seven inch shower sponges after you trim off the ends.  

This year's unusual planting is going to be Tahitian squash.  The can be up to 30#, most of it usable flesh, with a small seed cavity.  They are supposed to be really good for storage.  Word is you can  trim off a portion, and the flesh will seal  itself at the cut so you don't have to prepare the whole squash at once.  This may end up being a yearly thing, though.  Squashes do really well in my garden, I always have a bumper crop.