You Can Grow (and Eat) This Sponge

Within each seed catalog, there are plants you flip past--the ones that you've never heard of. These plants tend to lean towards "crops" that you don't think you have the room to grow: sorghum, those warty gourds, wheat. Every year I ask myself, "Who is growing all those cardoons?"

Luffa, however, shouldn't be skipped. Why luffa? Because you know it as "loofah," the sponge that surprisingly does not live at the bottom of the sea. If the notion of literally growing your own sponges delights you, then you should grow some luffa this year.

What is Luffa?

Luffa is a long, narrow, hanging squash that looks like an alien cucumber, which isn't odd, since it's part of the same family-cucurbits-that cucumbers and squash inhabit. Originally thought to be from Asia, it wasn't until India began cultivating it that production took off. The European colonizers in America grew luffa as one of the first domesticated crops, but they didn't grow it to eat, which might have been a mistake.

Yes, You Can Eat It

Luffa, when immature, is actually a lot like a zucchini in flavor. (Serious Eats described it as the "world's most succulent squash.") Because the structure of luffa holds onto moisture better than zucchini, it absorbs flavor like a sponge. Marinate it, saute it, etc.; treat it like you would any squash.

Luffa dishes are popular in Asian culture, it's often stir fried, and most popularly, served in a dish with eggs. Most often treated like eggplant, luffa is complemented by parmesan. It even makes its way into fine dining.

Luffa Gets Better with Maturity

If you don't plan to eat it, you'll want to wait until the fall to harvest it, because that's when luffa transforms into loofah. The squash get quite large and dries out. You'll need to pick them before they're fully dry, because otherwise they'll get rained during the later half of fall. If you keep them in a dry, airy place, and allow them to fully dehydrate, you can crack the hard outer shell and access to loofah.

Loofah really are the ideal kitchen workhorse sponge-- a completely natural solution that can scrub pots and surfaces. It's not bad in the shower, either. You can sew it into a smaller countertop sponge, or leave it whole.

How to Grow Luffa

Luffa is a prolific vine that requires support. It's the ideal trellis vegetable, because hanging luffa are enchanting, and if you're looking for a plant that will really fill out an arch, this is it.

While easy to sprout (cucurbits are accommodating in this way), luffa needs a long, hot summer to really mature. Seedlings will take over your indoor seed stations with their prolific vines, and they like to grab hold of support, but as a tropical plant, they can't go outside until the soil is at least 60?, so don't rush getting them into the ground.

Like other cucurbits, luffa are pollinated by bees and wind, and you'll need to be careful not to plant them too close to other cucurbits, as they cross pollinate.

By mid-summer, around the time your cucumbers are starting to show fruit, your luffa should do the same. If you are harvesting to eat, you won't want to let them get bigger than four to six inches. If you plan to harvest them for loofah, then you do absolutely nothing except let them grow.

How to Harvest Luffa

By the end of the summer, you should have a number of hanging luffa. The balance you'll try to strike is to leave them on the vine as long as possible so they can dry out, but not so long they get rained on all the time, which will ruin them with mold.

When you harvest them, you can hang them in front of a fan or in a nice cool, breezy space, and let them continue to dry out.

Once they're completely, fully dry, you can crack open the skin and peel it off. Inside, you'll expose the spongy-textured guts, which is what you'll recognize as loofah. You can use it as is, or break it down into smaller pieces. Dried loofah keep for a really long time, make great gifts, and help make your home and body (sustainably) clean.