On 6/18/2014 5:46 PM, bluechick wrote:
On Wed, 18 Jun 2014 08:50:46 -0500, George Shirley
wrote:

Our garden does weird things, one day there is a tiny zucchini, two days
later it weighs over two lbs and is still seedless. Harvested and
shredded half of that one for zuke bread and casseroles. The other half
will get cooked into a casserole today. Same with Ichiban eggplant,
maybe three inches long today, eight to ten inches long tomorrow. I
guess it our watering cycle that pumps them up. I'm still waiting for
the Hopi lima beans to fill up, anxious to try them, may end up drying a
bunch and put them in a big jar for winter beans and cornbread or beans
and rice. Staples here in the souf'.

Ours goes in cycles as well. I guess it's from lots of rain or after
a good watering. Then the plants go completely wild. For example, we
planted a luffa in one unused corner of the garden and it sat there,
all meek and mild. Then we had a fairly heavy rain one morning. I'll
swear that the next day it was three times its size, sending tendrils
all over trying to climb a bamboo pole, the fence, anything that was
standing still. FrankenLuffa! Maybe that kind of growth spurt is
normal for a luffa (this is our first time growing it) but I've never
seen anything like it. If it doesn't produce huge bath sponges I will
be very disappointed.

Baby luffa are edible, sort of like okra, grew them one year and ate
enough of them not to grow anymore. Still got some luffa sponges from
that twenty year ago experiment. Also grew a gourd that tasted like
squash, can't remember the name of it. Grew Armenian squash one year,
they got huge but were tasty, just took up a lot of room. Back then we
had 12,000 square feet of property and could afford the space. We've got
half that now and it is crowded.