Growing Christmas Gifts in the Garden: Catnip, Loofah Squash and More

It may be too late in the year to start something in the garden for Christmas, but it may not be too late to buy it. Stop at your local farmer's market or oddity vegetable store and see if they have loofah squash. Sometimes it is spelled "luffa" or "luffah," so just look for anything that seems like the name of a sponge. Loofah sponges come from a gourd. The gourd grows, dries out, you dump the seeds, and peel it. TADA! Once the sponge is washed up, you can take it to the shower or scrub in the sink.

If you haven't the time to grow one yourself or can't find a gourd at the market; why not give the gift of life. Not your kidney, Silly, a plant. If you prospective recipient has a wonderful area outside to grow this is a snap. Purchase seeds for the loofah on line or in a store (Good luck on that one, they are tough to find.) You can check on the Internet, but I did find a side that has the address of several companies that sell the seeds. You can find seeds that are reasonably priced and hopefully get them in plenty of time to gift a small plant. http://www.luffa.info/luffasources.htm Luffa.info contains several sites that sell Loofah seeds.

So, here are your loofah ideas mapped out according to the amount of time you have.

1. Lots of time. If you have an entire growing season, grow loofahs. Follow the directions below.
2. 5 to 6 weeks of time. Start a plant or two and gift the plants. It will take some time to get the purchased seed, and you need at least 3 weeks to have a presentable plant. Make certain that you include the growing instructions.
3. No time or minimal time. If you have enough time to get seeds and that's all. Put together a growing kit. Include peat pots or starter trays, growing medium, and seeds and instructions.

Here are the instructions to include at each level.

How to Grow the Loofah Sponge:

1.Start the planting early. Plant them 1-1/2 inches deep. If you are in a colder area, begin the plant indoors in potting soil, 4 to 6 weeks before the last frost, and plant out after the danger of frost. The loofah needs a long growing season.

2.Plant them in a sunny location that is away from anything that looks like a gourd, cucumber, or even pumpkin or watermelon. You'll get really crummy, disappointing everything if you plant too close to relatives and they cross breed. Put three plants per mound. Space the mounds 4 feet apart.

3. Give the plant a lot of space and something to climb. Plant the loofah in the sun close to a trellis, tree, downspout, or fence. They love to climb and actually the gourd grows better.

4. Late in the fall the gourd will turn leathery, lighter weight (looses water), and brown. The stem of the plant should be dying back. Pick it.

How to Clean the Loofah:

1. Let it dry a little more. When you can hear the seeds rattle, cut off the blossom end and dump them out.

2. Peel away the skin. Soak the loofah in warm water. Keep changing the water as it gets dirty. This should soften the skin and pull it away enough to easily peel the sponge.

3. Rinse it out completely and then wash the sponge in hot soapy water and rinse it in hot water for a couple of hours. Remove and soak in a mild bleach and water mixture for 15 minutes and rinse in cool water until the bleach/water mixture is thoroughly removed.

If you have grown the loofah and are and only have a few, you can expand the gift giving by using melt and mold soap. Slice a 1-½ inch slice off the luffah. Put the slice in a mold and pour the soap up to the top so a slight amount of the rough edge shows. Wah lah, you have a scrubby soap gift. One loofah will make several of these.

More Gifts to Garden:

If you like the loofah but know that your recipient isn't the outdoor grower, or hasn't got the room, you can give an herb garden.

Make a kit that contains a bag of soil, packets of seeds, and a growing container holding all of these things. You can save the plastic containers with clear lids from the fast food restaurants; they are ideal for a planter if you punch a couple of holes in the bottom.

Purchase the herb seeds and divide them up to individual packages. You should put about ¼ of the seeds in each packet. Type up the directions and print them out, taping to the package of seeds that you have created. Put no more than 3 types of seeds in each planter. Chives, basil, thyme, parsley, and lemon balm are easy to grow. You can start the plants for the recipient or give them as a kit.

For Cat Lovers:

Give a wonderful gift of catnip. Provide the same kind of container as you would for the herb garden and gift a catnip garden.