Perennial Veggies

@habitat_gardener

Mine didn't get fully mature on the vine (since the season ends not too long after the days get shorter here), but I did get black seeds that seem to be viable from the biggest one. That one was stringy like spaghetti squash, but tasted kind of like tangy rice noodles when baked. It's the only tangy squash I remember having tried. That might be due to the growing or storage conditions, though.

The greens have the best taste of all the squash greens I've tried so far. They taste like a mix between green beans and spinach. They go well in soups and stuff. They don't put spiny fuzz on your tongue like some squash leaves. I'm not particular about how mature the leaves are with these, but I can be with some squash. Most squash greens are supposed to be edible (but if they're bitter, they're probably toxic). C. ficifolia definitely has edible leaves (except the cotyledons; so, I wouldn't make sprouts out of them). The stems and shoots are edible, too, as long as they're not too fibrous. The veins in mature leaves can be fibrous, but the portions between the main veins are still tender.

The young squash tasted kind of like good, tender zucchini mixed with milk and the ocean, and maybe something tropical, but the juice was too sticky for me to want to make a habit of eating it raw, although I did enjoy the taste. The raw juice sticks to my teeth and fingers and doesn't wash off. It's not sticky once it's really stuck to you, though. It's just like it fills in the pores, cracks and stuff on my fingers and makes the surface smooth (it sticks to my finger skin for days).