A heat and humidity loving member of the squash family, this variety will climb up trellises (sometimes with a little help) all season long while providing ridged fruits for thickening curries, soups, stews, and stir fries (even pickles and chutneys) with their mucilaginous quality reminiscent of okra and spongy texture so adept at absorbing flavors. In the Philippines, they are often made into a stew with pork or shrimp, tomatoes, eggplant and bitter melon called pinakbet. My mom makes a Chinese style dish with garlic and shrimp, kabatiti and oyster sauce. In the garden or field, they can provide much needed shade to adjacent crops once they’ve climbed their trellis. This makes them a great candidate for a thriving polyculture. Their pollen producing yellow flowers are borne on a long lived raceme (don’t cut them!) while their fruit-producing flowers (also yellow) are borne at the leaf nodes of the growing tips. Ripe fruits can be dried and skin and seeds removed and used as a dish sponge.

Days to Maturity: 80 to 90 days from transplant. Will produce until checked by frost. Fruits should be harvested young (6"-10") before internal fibers develop. Will stay tender to a larger size in more humid conditions.

Growing Tips: Kabatiti grows best in warm humid environments and should be trellised.

When to Plant: Warm season tender perennial, meaning they will die with moderate frost. Start indoors in paper cups and, when soil has warmed, transplant without removing from cup, about 3-6 weeks later, depending on outdoor temperatures.

Planting Depth: ½" to ¾" deep. Allow surface to dry between waterings until emergence.

Spacing: 16"-24"

Sun: Trellis in full sun. Some of the vines will need help finding the trellis.

Water: Moderate, consistent water. Avoid prolonged drought as this will result in fruits becoming fibrous at a smaller size.

Grower: Feral Heart Farm, Sunol, CA