Broad beans just sown

Watch me grow

Say bees

Hello pollinators!

Harvest time! Zucchini and Loofah

Late February - precious baby Zucchini (^^) tastes crispy!  

                                   24 March - the first Loofah fruit

Travel back in time II

In February - the plants with big white spotted leaves are the Zucchini plants. The ones hanging on the back fence are the Loofah plants. The three plants at the bottom of the picture are cucumber plants. Incidently, these three vegetables all belong to the same plant family Cucurbitaceae (~960 species, incl.squash, pumpkin, cucmber, loofah, zucchini etc), with hairy stems and pentagonal leaves.  

They grow well in tropical and sub-tropical climates, which makes summer time in Australia a good time to plant them.

Cucmbers originated from India and Zucchinis from South America.

Time travel back to the beginning - Zucchini and Loofah seedlings

 Back in December 2011, they were still seedlings. The loofah gourds seedlings are in the top rows (one seems to be struggling), and the the two in the bottom are Zucchini seedlings.

Some time in early January 2012, the seedlings were and still are growing day by day.

Loofah Gourd Plant Flowers

In the ten weeks since I have sowed my loofah seeds, the seedlings have climbed along the fence, the tendrils grabbing onto whatever they can reach. Now, finally, the male flowers (with thin stems) are in blossom, they open in the morning and close by night time. With the help of ants and bees, the flower pollen will hopefully reach the female flowers and result in baby loofah gourds fruits!