Well I’ve decided to plant a choko or two and wonder if anyone has some experience with them?
I know alot of people say they’re tasteless and boring but I’ve done a bit of research and can see they have plenty of uses including pickles, which I love. Maggie Beer has done a couple pages in her book and says small, fresh shredded make a great salad too.
And I am also lead to believe they’re not a water gussler, which is great. Last summer I had to pull up half the veg garden due to lack of water.
Anyways does anyone know if they sent out suckers or only grow from the mother fruit? I’m so over pulling up the passionfruit suckers, so don’t want to add to that chore.
Also will the chooks eat the leaves if I grow it along their pen fence? I also wonder if my dog will eat the leaves…I caught him eating the pumpkin leaves this morning!!

i like to pick them small before the seed fully develops, peel, steam and serve with other steamed vegies with home made tomato and brown lentil sauce :)

Muschee said:

Well I’ve decided to plant a choko or two and wonder if anyone has some experience with them?
I know alot of people say they’re tasteless and boring but I’ve done a bit of research and can see they have plenty of uses including pickles, which I love. Maggie Beer has done a couple pages in her book and says small, fresh shredded make a great salad too.
And I am also lead to believe they’re not a water gussler, which is great. Last summer I had to pull up half the veg garden due to lack of water.
Anyways does anyone know if they sent out suckers or only grow from the mother fruit? I’m so over pulling up the passionfruit suckers, so don’t want to add to that chore.
Also will the chooks eat the leaves if I grow it along their pen fence? I also wonder if my dog will eat the leaves…I caught him eating the pumpkin leaves this morning!!

I love chokos. Must try to grow one ourselves.

Muschee said:

Well I’ve decided to plant a choko or two and wonder if anyone has some experience with them?
I know alot of people say they’re tasteless and boring but I’ve done a bit of research and can see they have plenty of uses including pickles, which I love. Maggie Beer has done a couple pages in her book and says small, fresh shredded make a great salad too.
And I am also lead to believe they’re not a water gussler, which is great. Last summer I had to pull up half the veg garden due to lack of water.
Anyways does anyone know if they sent out suckers or only grow from the mother fruit? I’m so over pulling up the passionfruit suckers, so don’t want to add to that chore.
Also will the chooks eat the leaves if I grow it along their pen fence? I also wonder if my dog will eat the leaves…I caught him eating the pumpkin leaves this morning!!

If he eats Pumikin leaves, then yes, he will eat the choko. And why are you not eating the pumikin leaves? The last 30cms of both the Choko and Pumikin vines work well as a spinach substitute, very tasty! Along the Kokoda Track there is a 15 hectare area of Rainforest where a bushfire cleared the understory and killed off some of the tall trees. In this ashen patch the locals planted Choko, and now the plant is wild in that location. When you walk along that section of Track, the local porters will pick the ends and pick the fruit and if you are lucky they will cook them up in the evening.

A meal I had at Isurava one time was basically… Cook up some rice using the absorption method. Serve with the rice, a thickened soup/gruel made of cooking up some 2 minute noodles with extra chicken seasoning, add some chopped choko and then the tendrils/leaves. Cook until thick and gluggy, add some more chicken seasoning and serve with the rice.

Boy was it perfect! To add some meat, boil up a Cuscus for 2 hours, remove and put into another pot of boiling water and continue boiling until tender, another hour or so.

Serve with tea.

painmaster said:

Muschee said:

Well I’ve decided to plant a choko or two and wonder if anyone has some experience with them?
I know alot of people say they’re tasteless and boring but I’ve done a bit of research and can see they have plenty of uses including pickles, which I love. Maggie Beer has done a couple pages in her book and says small, fresh shredded make a great salad too.
And I am also lead to believe they’re not a water gussler, which is great. Last summer I had to pull up half the veg garden due to lack of water.
Anyways does anyone know if they sent out suckers or only grow from the mother fruit? I’m so over pulling up the passionfruit suckers, so don’t want to add to that chore.
Also will the chooks eat the leaves if I grow it along their pen fence? I also wonder if my dog will eat the leaves…I caught him eating the pumpkin leaves this morning!!

If he eats Pumikin leaves, then yes, he will eat the choko. And why are you not eating the pumikin leaves? The last 30cms of both the Choko and Pumikin vines work well as a spinach substitute, very tasty! Along the Kokoda Track there is a 15 hectare area of Rainforest where a bushfire cleared the understory and killed off some of the tall trees. In this ashen patch the locals planted Choko, and now the plant is wild in that location. When you walk along that section of Track, the local porters will pick the ends and pick the fruit and if you are lucky they will cook them up in the evening.

A meal I had at Isurava one time was basically… Cook up some rice using the absorption method. Serve with the rice, a thickened soup/gruel made of cooking up some 2 minute noodles with extra chicken seasoning, add some chopped choko and then the tendrils/leaves. Cook until thick and gluggy, add some more chicken seasoning and serve with the rice.

Boy was it perfect! To add some meat, boil up a Cuscus for 2 hours, remove and put into another pot of boiling water and continue boiling until tender, another hour or so.

Serve with tea.

Hey PM didn’t know you could eat the pumpkin leaves, but did about the choko ‘s. The dog is eating the older leaves which can’t be too yummy : /

I guess I’m just going to make an experiment of it in the chook pen as I have 3 choko’s and really don’t want to plant them all. So if the chooks get somethin out of one of them then that’s great.
Don’t suppose you know about my question with it sending out suckers? That’s a worry of mine.

Rumor has it that white chokos taste best, if you can find one.

I don’t think they sucker.

bubba louie said:

Rumor has it that white chokos taste best, if you can find one.

yeah i had some white ones, planted them and they all came green, even left some to mature and they stayed green, not sure what happened to the white, but yes nice if you like choko :)

Muschee said:

painmaster said:

Muschee said:

Well I’ve decided to plant a choko or two and wonder if anyone has some experience with them?
I know alot of people say they’re tasteless and boring but I’ve done a bit of research and can see they have plenty of uses including pickles, which I love. Maggie Beer has done a couple pages in her book and says small, fresh shredded make a great salad too.
And I am also lead to believe they’re not a water gussler, which is great. Last summer I had to pull up half the veg garden due to lack of water.
Anyways does anyone know if they sent out suckers or only grow from the mother fruit? I’m so over pulling up the passionfruit suckers, so don’t want to add to that chore.
Also will the chooks eat the leaves if I grow it along their pen fence? I also wonder if my dog will eat the leaves…I caught him eating the pumpkin leaves this morning!!

If he eats Pumikin leaves, then yes, he will eat the choko. And why are you not eating the pumikin leaves? The last 30cms of both the Choko and Pumikin vines work well as a spinach substitute, very tasty! Along the Kokoda Track there is a 15 hectare area of Rainforest where a bushfire cleared the understory and killed off some of the tall trees. In this ashen patch the locals planted Choko, and now the plant is wild in that location. When you walk along that section of Track, the local porters will pick the ends and pick the fruit and if you are lucky they will cook them up in the evening.

A meal I had at Isurava one time was basically… Cook up some rice using the absorption method. Serve with the rice, a thickened soup/gruel made of cooking up some 2 minute noodles with extra chicken seasoning, add some chopped choko and then the tendrils/leaves. Cook until thick and gluggy, add some more chicken seasoning and serve with the rice.

Boy was it perfect! To add some meat, boil up a Cuscus for 2 hours, remove and put into another pot of boiling water and continue boiling until tender, another hour or so.

Serve with tea.

Hey PM didn’t know you could eat the pumpkin leaves, but did about the choko ‘s. The dog is eating the older leaves which can’t be too yummy : /

I guess I’m just going to make an experiment of it in the chook pen as I have 3 choko’s and really don’t want to plant them all. So if the chooks get somethin out of one of them then that’s great.
Don’t suppose you know about my question with it sending out suckers? That’s a worry of mine.

I reckon they don’t send out suckers, but they will send out root where ever they touch the ground… like a creeper will.

How did you go with your Choko??
I love them, they absorb the flavour of whatever you cook them with, are very high in Vit C and are lovely and juicy. I have one growing up the chook yard, it took a bit o f abattering in the heat wave we had but it came back, I now have to see if it can survive a winter frost.