Growing Chokos

[Marilyn]

Hi all,
has anyone tried growing chokos. I thought I would try by growing in a corner of a gb and letting it vine out on a rope trellis so it would be in full sun.
Thanks Marilyn.

[GaryD]

HI Marilyn,

We grew a choko vine a couple of years ago. They produce an enormous amount of chokos....they have a bland zucchini taste.

When I was a kid, the women used to bottle them in a sugar syrup and they were then known as mock pears.

Gary

[Dufflight]

Grow them in twos. I'v got mine in the back yard and if how they go in soil is any indicator they will go wild in AP. Don't know how the roots grow on them.

[Marilyn]

Thanks,
Ijust love chokos and will cook up a pot of them just for myself with lashings of butter. In the supermarkets up here they have been over $5 a kilo so we haven't been having them at that price. I've tried growing them in the ground but they never wantd to grow very well.

Yes, Gary I cook them with fresh pears in sugar water and then you can't taste the difference. I have also heard that commercially they do this as well and sell the cans as pears with no mention of the substitute.

[Dufflight]

I like to plant them on there side. I think the roots and stem come out of the top. Let them shoot before you plant them.

[BARRAMUNDI BRETT'O]

Did somebody say the dreaded choko word,here i go again back to counselling.when I was about eight I climbed onto the roof of my grandfathers greyhound shed to get some choko's for that nights baked dinner,and fell clear through it,landing on my pop's fave dog,I screamed the dog howled and went on to have a good taste of my left leg whick he promptly spat back out,off to the hospital for some stiches, an x-ray on the rapidly swelling ankle.I survived but break out into a cold sweat at the dreaded choko word,the dog ( fast saphire)was unnafected and went on to be the australasian dog of the year in 1980 or there about's.I have to go and lay down now I dont feel to well SEE YA'S

[anniefish]

Chuckle, chuckle, yep reminds me of the time I climbed on to the chook shed roof to get the best mulberries off the branches that were over the roof. Of course, the roof wasn't made for walking on, so I fell through. :eek: No great damage to me (or the chooks) but I suspect they went off the lay for a bit.:D
chicken licken would have had a coronary though, (the sky is falling).

I love chokos, I think they are one of those veges you either love or hate. Yes, they are bland but lashings of butter and salt and pepper mmm mmmm. Good luck Marilyn, I grew my first successful choko last year, they need plenty of water so should be the preverbial bean stork in AP.

I've heard abot them being used for pears as well. I'm sure I've come across them, if you know, you can tell the difference.

[Murray]

I have a choko ready to plant out somewhere. I need to put it into one corner of a grow bed. I reckon it might go mad.

I don;t mind a choko or two, but it is not the kind of veggie that one can get all emotional about.....not like tomatoes ..:)

[Hamish]

I thought chokos only grew over the top of outhouses ;)

[GaryD]

Hamish,



I thought chokos only grew over the top of outhouses ;)

It had me puzzled for a while and then I figured it out. The psychodelic dye in the purple hat leached out and soaked into your brain.:rolleyes:

Gary

[Hamish]

Like the saying - 'Grows like a choko over a $#it house'...

[BARRAMUNDI BRETT'O]

G'day Hamish,youre right about the s@#t house as much as i tried i could never get those grey hounds to sit on the john,i spent many a school holiday hosing out dog pens,i had a blessed childhood. HOO ROO Brett

[Jackalope]

I've never heard of choko's, so I went a 'Googlin' ..... I found motorcycles, snowmobiles, clothing, Bulgarian gaming and a lot of other things, and finally went to Wikipedia, and found this:

Choko
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Choko may refer the following:

* an alternate name for Chayote, a green vegetable of the gourd family.
* Chokó is an alternate name for the Choco languages
* Chöko, a Tibeto-Burman language
* a specific type of Sake cup
* Choko (game)

Well, I figured I only had one choice here, so Is this what you folks are referring to?

Chayote
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The chayote (Sechium edule), also known as sayote, tayota, choko, chocho, chow-chow, christophine, mirliton, and vegetable pear, is an edible plant that belongs to the gourd family Cucurbitaceae along with melons, cucumbers and squash.

The plant has large leaves that form a canopy over the fruit. The vine is grown on the ground or more commonly on trellises.

Costa Rica is a major exporter of Chayotes worldwide. Costa Rican chayotes can be purchased in the European Union, the United States and other places in the world. Chayote is a very important ingredient in the Mexican diet. Veracruz state is the most important Chayote growing area of the whole country, and is also a major exporter of this product, mainly to the United States.

Description
In the most common variety, the fruit is roughly pear or apple shaped, somewhat flattened and with coarse wrinkles, ranging from 10 to 20 cm in length. It has a thin green skin fused with the white flesh, and a single large flattened pip. The flesh has a fairly bland taste, and a texture described as a cross between a potato and a cucumber. Although generally discarded, the seed has a nutty flavour and may be eaten as part of the fruit.

Culinary and Medicinal Uses
Although most people are familiar only with the fruit, the root, stem, seeds, and leaves are all edible.

The fruit does not need to be peeled and can be eaten raw in salads. Cooked or raw, it has a very mild flavor by itself, and is commonly served with seasonings (e.g., salt, butter and pepper in Australia) or in a dish with other vegetables and/or flavorings. It can also be boiled, stuffed, mashed, baked, fried, or pickled. Both fruit and seed are rich in amino acids and vitamin C.[citation needed] Fresh green chokos are firm and without brown spots or signs of sprouting. Smaller chayotes are more tender.

The tuberous part of the root is starchy and is both eaten by humans and used as cattle fodder.

The leaves and fruit have diuretic, cardiovascular and anti-inflammatory properties, and a tea made from the leaves has been used in the treatment of arteriosclerosis and hypertension, and to dissolve kidney stones.

In Taiwan, chayotes are widely planted for their shoots, known as lóng xü cài (龍鬚菜, literally "dragon-whisker vegetable"). Along with the young leaves, the shoot is a commonly consumed vegetable in the region.

Oh, I guess I might have found the answer to my question: :o :o


Myths

* In Australia, where it is called choko, a persistent rumour has existed that McDonalds Apple Pies were made of chokos, not apples. This eventually led them to emphasise the fact that real apples are used in their pies. This legend was based on an earlier belief that tinned pears were often disguised chokos.
* Due to its purported cell-regenerative properties, it is believed as a contemporary legend that this fruit caused the mummification of people from the Colombian town of San Bernardo who extensively consumed it. The very well preserved skin and flesh can be seen in the mummies today ;)

From what most of the people here say, these things sound good, gotta look around and see if'n I can find some ;)

[GaryD]

Hi Jack,

You're on the mark.

Gary

[anniefish]

Hi Jackalope,

Yep that's the one. You either like them or you don't, I like them boiled with butter melted over, salt and plenty of pepper. Buy smooth skinned ones to eat, ones with 'spikes' and the start of a stem to grow.

Hope you find some,

Annie

[Dufflight]

Supermarket in the fruit & veg. Just leave it on the table until it starts to grow and chuck it in the garden.

[Jackalope]

Hi Jackalope,

Yep that's the one. You either like them or you don't, I like them boiled with butter melted over, salt and plenty of pepper. Buy smooth skinned ones to eat, ones with 'spikes' and the start of a stem to grow.

Hope you find some,

Annie

Everything here is radiated, so it won't grow .... I'll have to see if I can find seeds or starts somewhere.

[anniefish]

Hi Jackalope,

Keep an eye out for farmer's markets or organic growers.

Annie