I am growing Achocha Fat Babies and Achocha Exploding this year. Besides being a curiosity, the idea of them being space-saving, prolific producers appealed to me as well. The Fat Babies have a mild lemon Cucumber taste when eaten raw in salads and a green pepper taste when sliced and cooked.
All they need is a nice sunny spot and something to grow up and they will be happy and reward you well. As mine were experimental, I only planted a few of each to try and although the Achocha Exploding is tasty enough, the thought of being shot at close range by a dangerous seed does not appeal. The seeds have a similarity to the size and shape of a black beetle which has been flattened, so the edges are quite sharp, making the sudden burst, firing them out with high velocity at the least disturbance, mean the seeds also have to come with a warn
ing label.
At least with the Fat Babies, I will get the chance to save the seed for next year, I will definitely be growing those unassuming little treats, taking it for granted that the weather will be kind, they do like sunshine. Based in South West Scotland, our colder, wetter weather doesn’t often give us a chance of growing foods which require a lot of sunshine. I did feel mine were a bit more stragglier than they should have been but I did get results, besides the seed suppliers say “they can be grown outdoors with ease and set masses of fruit with no effort” that is one phrase that really appeals to me.
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Achocha is a fun plant to grow – good luck with the exploding ones! I tried to grow Fat Baby for the first time this year (alongside Lady’s Slipper, which I have grown before), but the plants didn’t make it. Never mind, there’s always next year 🙂 I will be interested to see what you do with the fruit….
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I’ve never grown any of them before but my curiosity got the better of me. I’m always looking for space saving ideas and the idea of a combination of cucumber and green pepper on the same plant, appealed to me, since the leaves of both of these plants take up a lot of valuable space. I only grew a couple plants of each but they have provided fruit, Fat Babies appear to be a bit more-ish as once the Exploding explode, the remainder dries out quickly. I’m not sure about harvesting them, I have visions of a bowlful popping their seeds all over the place, like popping corn on a hot stove, but something I have yet to see.
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