Snake Gourds
(Page 3 of 4)
April/May 2005
William Woys Weaver
I would go by this rule of thumb: If you can grow an abundance of lima beans in your area, then you can grow snake gourds. The insects that pollinate limas also like the flowers on snake gourds, so it’s a good idea to plant one near the other.
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Fruit set is better in the tropics because particular moths there pollinate the flowers, but the yield of each vine is so high you probably won’t notice this in a more northerly garden. The trick to getting good fruit here is to start the plants early indoors and to plant them out as soon as you can plant beans. The larger the vines the better: I use 6-inch pots so that root disturbance is minimal. This will give them the head start they need in order to set fruit during the hottest part of the summer.
The gourds are ready to eat when they are young, about 40 to 50 days from planting, depending on the weather. For the truly long varieties, this means they are ready at no longer than 16 to 18 inches. There should be few if any developed seeds, and the seed mass should be white. For the short varieties, 6 to 8 inches seems to be the ideal harvest length.
When the fruit is fully ripe, it is inedible, turning orange and crumbling to mush. The ripe, red, gelatinous mass that holds the seeds in place, however, can be used like tomato sauce in cooking or applied to ayurvedic remedies. The ripe seeds themselves are dark gray, and while they are nutritionally equal to cashews or almonds, they should not be consumed by humans due to complex compounds with strong emetic and purgative properties. They do, however, make excellent fodder for livestock.
When saving seed season to season, discard any that are light-colored or white; they will not germinate. Even in India, germination rates for the best seeds hover at about 60 percent, so always keep on hand more seeds than you think you need, and plant extra for precaution. Furthermore, renew your seeds every two or three years; their viability drops off quickly after that.
William Woys Weaver’s Pennsylvania garden is jampacked with delicious, exotic vegetables. He is the author of 100 Vegetables and Where They Came From.
Snake Gourd Curry
2 cups plain yogurt
½ cup chopped mint
8 ounces snake gourd, trimmed,
seeded and chopped
2 tablespoons cold-pressed sesame oil or any preferred cooking oil
1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 tablespoon minced hot red pepper, or to taste
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon curry powder
½ cup hot water
2 teaspoons salt
