Sunday, Jan. 04, 2009

Jardine: One seed, 75 feet and a shower of luffas

Dude gets a seed. Dude plants the seed. Dude waters the seed. Seed goes berserk, growing into a plant that climbs and climbs.

A old English fairy tale? Hardly. It's a scenario playing out in a Modestan's back yard, sans the intimidating "fee-fi-fo-fum" line.

Instead of "Jack and the Beanstalk" though, we'll call this one "Paul and the Luffa Vine."

Paul Thompson is an 82-year-old who in July planted a single luffa seed in the corner of his tiny back yard in northeast Modesto.

He watered it every day.

"And I used Miracle-Gro," Thompson said.

Whatever he did worked. It grew into a 75-foot-long vine that, with some guidance by Thompson, covered the length of his fence four times, back and forth.

"From wall to wall," he said. "Those little feelers (plant ends) grow and grow."

Mature luffa plants produce a small flower -- a new one each day -- that becomes a gourd resembling a large zucchini squash. But peel away the green outer skin and you have a sponge the likes of which are sold in the toiletries sections of many department and specialty stores.

A luffa sponge (also spelled loofah) is good for scrubbing your skin. It's also perfect for cleaning nonstick surfaces -- Teflon frying pans and such -- because it won't scratch the coating.

(Of course, if the pan's surface truly is nonstick, you shouldn't need a scouring pad.)

Thompson managed the Modesto Library before moving to Lompoc, where he spent 18 years before retiring in 1986. He and wife Betty lived near their son in Exeter until returning to Modesto in 2004.

He grew his first luffa in Exeter several years ago.

"A man gave me some luffa seeds," Thompson said. "They grew all over the garage, the roof. They grew up on top of the house."

This year marked the first time he grew the plant since moving back to Modesto.

One seed, as it turned out, was enough. The plant has produced dozens of gourds.

He recently stopped watering it so the gourds will dry out. When that happens, the outer layer will turn brown. He'll remove the outer layer to harvest the sponges.

Then what?

"We give the luffas to people to use in the shower," Thompson said.

Why not sell them? Bed, Bath & Beyond gets $7.99 for a luffa bath brush online. Linens 'n Things' Web site charges $2.99 for a luffa strap -- great for cleaning your back -- and $2.39 for a natural luffa sponge.

OK, so there's not a lot of money in luffa production even when you're the grower, tender, picker and cleaner.

Let's face it: If the domestic luffa market were all that lucrative, some farmer would have grown miles of it. When he died, his kids would have sold the farm to a large corporation which, in return, would move the operation to Malaysia (which might already explain a $2.39 natural luffa sponge.)

And if there's a great market for any product, there's usually a black market for it, too.

I can't recall the last time the feds announced a major bust of luffa traffickers.

The Thompsons simply aren't willing to invest much of their time on the marketing and distribution end.

"I don't go to swap meets and sell that stuff," Thompson said. "We're nicely retired."

He prefers to tutor students at Agnes Baptist Elementary or entertain children in his clown getup, creating balloon animals and making the kids laugh. He's also a member of the Fellowship of Christian Magicians.

So Thompson grows luffas for the most old-fashioned reason: Because he likes to.

"Why you do this is because it's a wonderful experience to see the plant grow," he said. "I planted it in July. In three months, it was full grown. You get to watch it grow and grow every day."

And dude, that's no fairy tale.

Jeff Jardine's column appears Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays in Local News. He can be reached at 578-2383 or jjardine@modbee.com.