Chokoes!

[Wombat]

G'DAy All Self sufficientishers,

I don't know if they a common over there but they used to be a popular vegetable here and some people still eat 'em. They are impossible to kill, require no care and produce lots - a real self sufficientish vege! We have a choko vine that has consumed the apple tree, orange tree and is now threatening the garage. It has gone berserk this year and we are soon to be innundated with the damn things.

Consequently I am collecting recipes etc. that I can use to help us work our way through these things. Any suggestions? (choko ice cream maybe? )

Andy - Maybe they could be vege of the month for May?

Nev

[Andy Hamilton]

not a vegetable that I have ever heard of, so I had to do a quick google just to see what it looked like. I assumed that it could be from the squash family as it is a vine and yep it seems to be. Could be a very good one for vegetable of the month, but as none of my UK books mention it, nor is it mentioned much on the web and info would be difficult to come by.

Anyway I did find you a few recipes, see these links...

http://www.formulaforlife.com.au/asp/re ... showrecipe and http://www.wineoftheweek.com/food/0104choko.html

Also if you have that many then perhaps you could try making some wine out of them perhaps, or even chutney.

I wonder if it would grow over here, do you think you could save some seeds as I would love to try it.

[Chickenlady]

Hmm, never heard of them either. If they are squash-like, could you just substitute them for courgettes in recipes?

[Wombat]

Thanks Andy,

They are very bland, like squash, so maybe they could be a zucchini substitute. They are traditionally used to replace apple in apple pies.

I gotta admit that I would never have thought of Choko wine

I have never grown them from seed, you just plant a fruit and away you go! They grow like buggery over summer ( again traditionally over the outside loo, but mine grows over the apple tree) and then fruit in Autumn then die back in winter. The are originally from tropical South America I believe.

I will have a go at making the chutney!

[Muddypause]

I wonder if it would grow over here, do you think you could save some seeds as I would love to try it.

Woooah! Please think twice before introducing a plant into a country that doesn't grow this stuff. It sounds as if it is difficult to control - I'm thinking, for example, of the trouble we have with Japanese knotweed, which can devastate large areas, and is very difficult to control without serious persistent chemicals.

[Andy Hamilton]

I wonder if it would grow over here, do you think you could save some seeds as I would love to try it.

Woooah! Please think twice before introducing a plant into a country that doesn't grow this stuff. It sounds as if it is difficult to control - I'm thinking, for example, of the trouble we have with Japanese knotweed, which can devastate large areas, and is very difficult to control without serious persistent chemicals.

Very good point Stew. The best way to get rid of Knotweed is to dig out the soil 2m underneath the plant and incinerate it. I had a quick look round for seeds sold in this country and there are places selling them. I thought just because there are places selling them does not mean that they would not be an evasive plant in this country so I decided against growing them for the very reasons you point out.

I think more research has to be done, I have found that there are many other names for choko like brionne, cayota, chayote, chayotl, chocho, cho-cho, chochoute, christophine, chuchu, cidrayota, custard marrow, gayota, güisquil, Guisayote, huisquil, machiche, machuchu, Madeira marrow, mango squash, merliton, mirliton, papa del aire, pepinella, uisquil, vegetable pear, xuxu

So if anyone knows about growing this crop over here then please do shout.

[Muddypause]

Ah, well now. I remember being show a custard marrow by my granddad's nextdoor neighbour when I was about 8, so I guess it must be OK. IIRC, something like a cross between a cauliflower and a melon.

I was just a bit concerned, because I think it's generally regarded that importing seeds ad hoc, like I thought you were suggesting, is A Bad Thing.

[Wombat]

Well, if I weren't breaking any laws, I would be happy to send a choko or two over there. I don't want to be responsible for a "night of the choko monters" in the UK though.

They grow like crazy Stew but probably wouldn'y survive your winter unless some of the fruits were stored inside for planting the follwoing spring.

Nev

[leedarkwood]

last year we brought a strange fruit in the supermarket and didn't like it, so we tossed it into compost bucket and it went out to the hen run. Damn thing grew and ripened!

http://www.obsess.com/fruit/kiwano

Strangest looking thing ever seen in a yorkshire garden

Lee

[Andy Hamilton]

I love it Lee. I bet their are people desperatly trying to go them and you can do it by accident them fingers must be mighty green

[wulf]

I like the fruit reviews on that website - shame there aren't a few more of them. Markets and supermarkets often have some exotic items but I'll normally leave them as I'm uninformed about how to use them (as well as having some concerns about the travel miles on the goods I buy!).

Sounds like it's good as an ornamental plant... and I wonder if the seeds would work as a squirrel deterrent?

Wulf

[catalyst]

google says (translated from portuguese):
"Chuchu is a hortaliça fruit, originary of Central America and neighboring islands. Already he was known in the antiquity for the Aztecs and had great prominence enters the excessively hortaliças ones at the time cultivated. Currently, it is more enters the ten consumed hortaliças in Brazil. It is a hortaliça of soft flavor, easy digestibilidade, rich in staple fibres and poor person in calories. It is distinguished as potassium source and supplies vitamins and C. chuchu is a Cucurbitácea, as well as the cucumber, the pumpkins, the cantaloups and the watermelon."


We can buy them in supermarkets here (portugal)... how easy are they to grow nev?
can i just dig a hole and bung a fruit in...? i´d love to have a go...

[Wombat]

G'DAy Catalyst,

They are supremely easy to grow! wait unilt they start to sprout ( from the opposite end to where they attach to the vine) then plant 'em on their side a couple of inches deep, preferable next to an outdoor dunny or fruit tree then away they go - do not stand too close or you will wind up covered!

Nev

[catalyst]

how prolific are they?

should i put in one or 10 fruit to get a decent supply?

[Wombat]

Plant ONE! They will take over given half a chance...........if you go away you are likely to come back to no house, just chokos! (well a tad of an exaggeration perhaps!)

Nev