Or chayote if you prefer.
We first came across them when we were in Guadeloupe in 2019 and were over on Grande Terre visiting a sugar factory. As it was the major festival for the islands (Mardi Gras - why did we not spot that?), we were evicted from the factory museum so went for a meal at a restaurant by the sea, as you do. The starter, the proprietor was very proud to tell us, was cristophine gratin, and it was delicious. So we looked around for cristophines to buy to try cooking ourselves, which we found. Then how to deal with them? A Florida cooking and gardening website was our friend and talked us through the process - easy and tasty, what more could you ask for?
Once home of course, you forget, but then a few months later, I spotted them on a local market stall in January, and asked the chap about them. He had a few and had planted them in one of their polytunnels to use the space during the summer and was now selling off the crop. So each winter, we have profited and bought from him. Last year, we spotted a strange plant along a chum's fence and asked about it, and he said he had been growing a cristophine as someone gave him a sprouted one - that set us thinking!
We let a couple we bought at la Flèche sprout, and while one had the growing tip knocked off in one of those gravity related accidents, the other kept going. it was in a pot on a south facing window sill for two and a half months, getting stupidly large, until mid-May and all danger of frosts were gone - then we planted it out at The Shack.
We also planted a couple of runt tomatoes next to it, because, well, you never know do you? During the summer, it reflected on things then decided to grow. So we had to start to provide supports.
The plant kept growing and so the support structure had to get bigger and bigger.
In early August, we spotted the first flowers, which got a lot of interest from the local insect population.
That was very exciting, but what we didn't realise was that there are two types of flower - male and female. The males appear first and while not impressive, are pretty, yellow and numerous. The female flowers appear singly and, as with courgettes and squashes, with a tiny potential fruit attached.
We only spotted the female flowers last weekend, along with a couple of fruit. We now think there are at least a dozen fertilised fruit on there, and perhaps more to come. Some are also getting towards an interesting size!
The main plant is huge and still growing in all directions.
And what about those two runt tomato plants? Well it would appear that planting tomatoes and cristophine together is a match made in heaven and they too have turned into triffids.
"Feed me, Seymour!"
Until next week, assuming we survive!!
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