Growing my own Kitchen Sponges

As I've endeavored towards creating zero waste, one of my issues was finding a decent, sustainable implement for cleaning dishes.

As a kid, my family had a dishwasher, which seemed to me worthless, since I had to clean the dishes before loading them.  Consequently, as an adult, I've never owned a dishwasher and have always hand washed my dishes.  I've learned to do this while using a minimal amount of water, so as not to waste this precious resource.  And now that I own my home, I've plumbed my kitchen sink water to drain into mulch basins that water fruit trees, herbs and native plants in my front yard.  I use soap especially made for grey water that breaks down into plant food; not only does it not harm the soil, it benefits the earth.

But for many years I struggled with the kitchen sponge.  Even the more natural options are still highly processed and packaged and disposable.  I tried numerous clothes, wooden scrub brushes and the like and found them unsatisfactory.  Ultimately, I hit upon the idea of loofah, typically used in the shower, but why had it never occurred to me to use it in the kitchen?

I found them offered by a small citrus farmer at the Hillcrest farmers market.  I bought all he had; four desiccated husks.  I think I paid a dollar a piece for them.  They were a total pain-in-the-ass to peel; it took forever.  I cut them up in four-inch sections and they worked beautifully!  Perfect texture for scrubbing without damaging my enameled pots.  Food bits easily rinsed away.  Each section lasted months and then they go into the compost!

And I saved the seeds!  It took me a couple years to get them to grow (and the loofahs I bought almost lasted me that long).  Now I've grown my own kitchen sponges!

And they are much easier to peel before they've completely dried out!