Many vegetable gardeners look for new crops or new varieties of crops they have experience growing to add to their garden. And this is the time of year when gardeners start to think about how they ...

Shaped like an oversized apple, these hard-shelled gourds (Lagenaria siceraria) grow six to eight inches tall and four to six inches across. In India, young fruit is added to curries. The skin is ...

Grow your own bath sponge! Luffa gourds are the familiar bath sponge. Growing your own will keep you entertained all growing season and are great fun for a long time after they are harvested. Peel ...

I have been getting a lot of questions lately on how to handle a luffa or loofah gourd to get a usable sponge. Luffa or sponge gourds should be harvested when the outer shell is dry. When you can hear ...

MCCANDLESS, Pa. — To most Americans, a luffa is a sponge. But to Wei Fei Chen, it’s a wonder gourd that’s fun to grow and good to eat. “You can saute or steam it with tofu, shrimp, chicken. Sometimes ...

Every year, the Art in the Park show in Julia Davis Park has some vendors selling large gourds, beautifully decorated as if they were clay pots. Some of us try to grow our own gourds, but find the ...

Loofahs are great for exfoliating the skin, and though one of them is my regular shower companion, I had no idea what they are. I assumed the coarse tubes were either natural sponges from the sea, or ...

Q: I grew a loofah plant in my garden this year. Before the first frost I picked them, all are a good size and they are still green. Should I let them turn brown before I attempt to peel them? — Jack ...