Luffa Gourd

Lagenaria aegyptiaca. This old fashioned gourd’s cylindrical fruits are tasty when young and tender, and can be eaten like Summer Squash. But if allowed to dry on the vine, their skin will begin to crack, showing the fibers inside. Peel them, shake out the seeds, slice them into rounds and wash and dry them for a non-abrasive sponge for scrubbing skin, dishes, cars, or floors. Start seeds indoors 6 to 8 weeks before transplanting out after the last frost. Give them room to ramble, or grow them on a large trellis. (OP.)

One packet of about 25 seeds