Last time I wrote about my loofah plants, they had just begun making their gourds.
Now, as summer is winding down, the growing season (about 180 days) is and so are my loofah vines.
I have four vines growing out of a five-gallon bucket placed against my back yard fence. Two of the plants were heirloom seeds from a seed catalog, and two of the vines are from seeds from the loofah plants I grew at River’s End a few years back.
Two of the vines are more robust than the other two, but at this point, I don’t know the origin of any of the four vines.
All the vines, though, are showing stress and turning yellow. So far, it looks like I’ll have about 15 gourds to harvest. The first two gourds are very large and beginning to be visibly yellow. The rest of them are still grass green and trying to catch up.
There are a couple of smaller ones which may not grow to maturity before the vines give up the ghost.
I did some research on Google to find out how to prepare the first gourds I grew at River’s End. Once I felt comfortable with that information, I processed the mature gourds.
This is a shorthand lesson on how I did that. If you have loofahs growing too, this is how you’ll have to process the gourd to get the sponge for your bath and other uses.
First, let the gourd dry on the vine. It will turn dark brown and get wrinkled. The skin of the gourd gets hard like thin cardboard. If you pick the gourd early, let it dry in the sun, but the seeds may not be viable next season.
Once the gourd is totally dry, rap it briskly on a table edge to loosen the many seeds inside. Then cut off the flower end of the loofah and pour the seeds out into a bowl.
(Note: the seeds should be black. If you get white seeds, the gourd was not mature, and these seeds will not germinate.)
Next, you peel off the dry skin and throw it away. What you are left with is the sponge you grew the plant to get. Wash the sponge with water from a hose to remove any remaining sap. If your sponge is discolored, and to keep it from molding, prepare a basin or bucket of warm water with bleach (10 parts water to one-part bleach) and place your sponges in this solution. Cover them completely for about five minutes. Then rinse and dry your sponges in the sun.
Now you can store them until you are ready to use them for projects or for bath sponges or pot scrubbers. If you are using them for bath sponges (they are great for exfoliating dead skin), just cut the sponges with a sharp serrated knife to the size you like.
After using as a bath sponge — or a kitchen sponge for that matter — remember to wash them in the top drawer of your dishwasher. Never use an organic sponge (even one you clean often) for more than one month. After a month, throw your sponge away or compost it.
Some of my current gourds will be made into bath sponges, but I will keep the big ends of the gourds to make little “scrubbies.” For this, you purchase some microwaveable soap (I ordered six pounds of Organic Goat’s Milk Soap from Amazon). I also ordered two soap molds and purchased lemon and lavender essential oils locally to fragrance the soap.
To make “scrubbies,” slice about one inch of your sponge from the large end of the loofah sponges and place in soap mold. (You can use muffin tins, but it is harder to get the soap out whole.) Then microwave your soap per directions, until you have liquid soap. At this point, stir in your desired essential oil for scent.
Once the fragrance is added, pour soap over sponge slice in the soap mold and let set overnight. Next morning, take your bar of soap (with loofah slice inside) out of the mold and store your little “scrubbie” in a zip lock bag in a cool dry place until you are ready to gift or use. I promised my doctor and her staff little scrubbies for Christmas — they’ve been listening to stories of my loofahs’ progress all summer.
The “scrubbies” are great for elbows and feet — anywhere you want to exfoliate skin. They are also good to bathe with — no wash rag required. I’ve enjoyed the scrubbies I’ve made in the past and can hardly wait to process my gourds.
When the loofahs mature, I will work them up for presents. Looks like there will be a bunch this year. “Scrubbies” make pretty handmade gifts and the gourds produce lots of seeds to share next year. I love it! A growing gift that keeps on giving.
