Cucurbits

This year, there are nine species of cucurbits growing in the Medicinal Herb Garden.  Cucurbits are representatives of the Cucurbitaceae, the plant family that supplies us with squash, melons and cucumbers. All of the species in the garden except the squirting cucumber (Ecbalium elaterium) in section C, are vines with tendrils which are grown on trellises because they would otherwise cover the pathways and get stepped on.

Starting in section A on the west side of the garden is the wild cucumber (Echinocystis lobata), a widespread native of North America. The spiny fruit has four large, black or brown seeds and not much else but some bitter juice. The clusters of small, white flowers are fragrant. Because they’re annuals, they can run up a fence or trellis and not cause a maintenance problem. Just pull the old foliage off after it dies back. Wild cucumber has been used in many ways by Native Americans, but perhaps most importantly as a bitter tonic.

Up the steps, to the east in section B, I’m growing an annual snake gourd (Trichosanthes cucumerina) from southeast Asia, next to bitter melon/bitter gourd (Momordica charantia) from the Old World tropics. Both are used for food and medicine and both are bitter, so best eaten when young and after cooking. Various parts of snake gourd, at different stages of maturity, are considered anti-inflammatory, anthelmintic, purgative, hypoglycemic, gastroprotective and so much more. Bitter melon is used throughout southeast Asia as a medicinal food for a variety of ailments, but most commonly, to treat diabetes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A few feet away is a vine whose foliage is considered one of the great adaptogens (plants that help our bodies adapt to all sorts of stress), with medicinal properties similar to those of ginseng (Panax spp.). Jiao gu lan (Gynostemma pentaphyllum), from eastern Asia, is an herbaceous perennial which grows without much help from me. My kind of plant! Its flowers are tiny and inconspicuous, its fruit green and the size of a small pea. The leaves are commonly eaten right off the plant or brewed into an infusion while fresh or  after drying. It makes sense to dry some for the winter, when the plants are dormant. This is a plant to have on a trellis in your medicine garden at home.

Moving east across Okanogan Lane to Section C, cucurbits are all over the place but none of them are in the same genus. In the northwest corner is the Chinese winter melon or dong gua ren (Benincasa hispida). If you’ve ever been to one of the produce markets in Seattle’s International District, you’ve seen winter melon, often cut up in large pieces because the melons can get huge. They’re eaten like squash and  when you cut them open, they smell like cucumber mixed with fresh spring air. Their flesh turns translucent when cooked and the melons are considered a food medicine with many healing powers in much of eastern Asia. The juice is used to treat peptic ulcers and the seeds to expel intestinal worms.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A few feet away are the luffas (Luffa aegyptiaca). The luffa ‘sponge’ you might buy for your shower is the same luffa eaten by millions in eastern Asia. They’re prepared in many ways, as you would zucchini. The trick is to pick them before they become tough and fibrous. Once they reach that stage, you can wait until the end of the season and harvest them to make your own luffa sponge. No, they’re not the marine organisms we know as sponges, and calling them sponges probably complicates matters. I just call them luffas.

This is the first year I’ve grown chayote (Sechium edule), native to Mexico but grown and eaten widely throughout the world. I got the chayote that grew into this plant from my coworker and friend Binh, who grew up in Vietnam. He prefers the spiny chayotes so that’s what he gave me. Chayotes have one big seed, like an avocado seed but smaller, softer and edible. The seed Binh gave me was sprouting right out of the squash so I planted the whole thing, which, it turns out, is the proper way to start a chayote plant. I’m looking forward to trying spiny chayote for the first time this year. Thanks, Binh.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For many years I’ve been growing the eastern Asian, perennial snake gourd (Trichosanthes kirilowii), which has roots called tian hua fen and fruits called gua lou in China. Unlike the annual snake gourd in section B, the fruits of this vine, though they are used for food, are more commonly put to a wide variety of medicinal uses. Because the plants are dioecious, you must have at least one male plant to pollinate your female plants, if you want fruit. Male plants are preferred for root production. Unfortunately, even with five or six plants, all started from seeds many years ago, I still haven’t gotten fruit. The fruit form and then drop off the vine before maturity. I think it’s time to move them to a new location.

Our only Medicinal Herb Garden cucurbit that isn’t a vine, from the Mediterranean region, the inconspicuous squirting cucumber (Ecbalium elaterium) has fruit which can eject their seeds far from the plant. How far? I’m not sure but I’ve found seedlings growing in nearby beds at least ten feet away. I wear safety glasses when collecting the seeds. The cucumbers, by the way, are quite bitter and toxic, though the juice has been used medicinally in very small doses.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

cucumber salad

grilled chayote and luffa

then watermelon

 

 

See you in the garden.