Following on from a comment Julia made in the C. ficifolia thread, I’m harvesting the fruits in different stages of development to test them as a storable zucchini. The really small one a few inches long is losing a good bit of moisture but the others are going strong. Is anyone else trying this?
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I had the same reaction, also harvested in different stages. Well, not exactly. I had no confidence in the tiny ones. But I harvested one half sized, two full sized, but soft shelled, and two full sized and mature with hard shells.
The half sized I rejected yesterday, as it was drying out in a way I didn’t perceive as delicious. All other four looked perfect.
That’s about what I did too. I have a couple a little less than full size, some half size, and a couple like a 5th or 6th of full size. I only harvested in the last few weeks so not much to report yet.
Here is a full size one with a few of the smaller ones I harvested. These smaller ones are similar to the sizes I cooked as a zucchini. They are going on 8-9 weeks with no apparent degradation. Some have soft skin and don’t look any worse.
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Which thread / comment?
I did not know that you can do it. If you can eat them like zucchini maybe I will try it. Mine are still on the vine.
In this thread, where I posted photos about Agnes’ Shark Fin Melon. Fig Leaf Gourd, Chilacayota, Shark Fin Melon
When you plant in late summer, you are harvesting in spring, or when?
I am going to harvest them in the next couple of weeks, the fruits are already quite big but a bit immature. I think I planted them a bit to late.
I am checking the weather to harvest before first frost day. Last night lowest temperature was 5°C/41°F. It would be nice if I bought a thermometer to record lows and highs on-site because microclimates impact the temperature variations.
Thanks
Here is the first of the storage test ficifolia to be eaten. Even after a few months of storage its still actually firmer than the store bought ones. The firmness of texture is one thing that’s nice about this species, and I think its related to the storage ability. I kept the seeds in and ate them all together, which worked great as the seed coats were not yet hardened. The skin was also palatable. The others I harvested are a little bigger than this one. It will be interesting to see how those end up tasting. I expect them to be good but have more developed seed as the next months go by. Its looking like a success and makes me stoked to do some breeding with this species.
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I had no idea they were used to make palanquetas in Mexico; just pour caramelized sugar over the seeds and let cool into a brittle candy. Not sure if you have to process them first by tossing the seeds in some olive oil and salt and roasting them in the oven at 300F.
You got black seeds with that small fruit?
Mine got white seeds with hard shell.
Some cultivars have white seeds. Depending on the cultivar there is a gradient tan to black. I heard that ficifolia, more so than the other species, keeps maturing its seed for months after harvest. This was my first time fruiting it. Im not sure if this particular fruit hung on the vine longer or not but it was tasty with the seed.
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Really? That is a nice trait. I will wait to open the other fruits then. The ones that I had open got very thin and white seeds. The seeds that I planted were black. I found the flavor of ficifolia super enjoyable.