The Harvest

Step 1:
Twist the loofah from the vine.  If the loofah does not twist off...have Josh run in the house for a pair of scissors.

Step 2:
Make sure you have the "How to Harvest Loofah" web page up on the iPad

Step 3:
Hit the loofah against the ground to loosen up the seeds.

Step 4:
Pop the bottom off of the loofah and shake the seeds free.  Good seeds for the next planting will be black....light, pliable ones are not as viable.

Step 5:
Peel the loofah.  Max was so excited about this.  He peeled a minuscule piece and decided it was a better job for daddy.  On account of icky-ness.

 

 

Step 6:
Rinse off the loofah with high pressure from a hose.  This will free up the rest of the seeds.

Step 7:
The website says that you can keep the natural color of the loofah (no bleaching) but I saw on another sight that it is good practice to bleach to make sure you kill any mold spores.  I opt to bleach!

Step 8:  After bleaching/rinsing....allow the loofah to dry completely in the sun.  Do not over dry, it will become hard. 

We have 6 more to harvest....get ready for loofah and home-made scrub for xmas!

xo~M

The loofah that went bump in the night

Max's loofah saga continues.  Josh and I are up in our bedroom.  I fell asleep.  Josh was watching the Falcons/Cowboys game.  I was startled awake and Josh had jumped out of bed when we had heard a huge bump.  It sounded like one of the kids had fallen out of bed but Josh was at our window.  He said, "the loofah all fell!"  I was half asleep but then when I woke in the night a few times, i was thinking about Max's loofah.  The plant he had been growing from seeds since April.  Over 6 months this plant had taken over the back of our house, from the dirt up to the gutters.  When I woke in the night, I worried about the loofahs' flight down to the ground.  Was it smashed to a million pieces?  Did they break off the vine? I was worried that Max would be devastated.  All that time he spent watering and marveling at its growth.  I was afraid to look out the window in the morning.  When we went downstairs, we all went outside.  And there, lying in my daisy bushes...still attached to the vines, were Max's loofah.  Safe.  Phew.....One looks ready to harvest, so stay tuned!

xo~M

Josh took this one with his phone just to show how big they have really gotten!

The loofahs new home....Max's picnic table

The last lingering vine off the gutter

The loofah awaits harvest