Did you know that it is possible to grow sponges in the garden ?
Yes, yes sponges for washing the dishes and mopping the floor!
All you need are loofah seeds.
This plant, which is part of the squash family, will provide you with vegetable sponges for free!
Don't worry, it's easy to grow your sponges. Watch:
1. Get Luffa aegyptiaca seeds here.
2. Plant your seeds in small biodegradable pots in early spring (in April/May).
Note: your seedlings must remain in a light and temperate place at around 12°C.
3. A month later, you can transplant the young shoots in the ground or in a planter.
Note: the advantage of the biodegradable bucket is that you can put it directly in the ground with the young shoot. This way, you don't damage the young roots.
4. Leave plenty of room between each plant, about one to two meters. Indeed, like all cucurbits, they tend to spread easily.
5. Water and add compost if necessary.
6. The sponge gourd will produce between three and five fruits. Harvest them in the fall.
7. Dry each fruit well then soak them for several days in a basin of water.
8. Remove the pulp and the seeds located in the middle.
9. Plunge the rest of the fruit into boiling water to blanch it.
10. Dry the fruit again. You will thus obtain a fibrous and abrasive cylinder.
And There you go ! You grew your vegetable sponges yourself :-)
Now whenever you need a sponge, just cut a slice of this cylinder of the size you want.
You can use these natural sponges to clean the floor at home, do the dishes, but also as a horsehair glove.
After each use, wash your sponge, let it dry and reuse it.
If you don't have a garden to grow your sponges in, know that you can also find some here.
Save the seeds that you removed from the fruit in step 9. Put them in a box in a dry place.
Replant them the following year to replenish your stock of sponges.
