Oh I have it growing. This is my first year though. But it's already 5' tall! It's a very fast grower

Florida Joes, how did you get yours and how did you spout it? Did you spout the seed are did you plant the whole fruit?

It needs a very strong trellis, and can get HUGE! Look on YouTube and you'll see what I mean. I was looking at one in the grocery the other day thinking I could grow it up and over the wall, but it would take over the outside garden, so decided against it.

Glen, I didn't plant the whole fruit. What I did was I left the whole fruit on my windowsill to sprout. Once the sprout was about 1.5" long I started to see little roots emerging from the sprout so I gently pulled the fruit apart and removed the seedling. It came off the fruit very easily. I then planted the seedling in soil.

So what is everyone's favorite way to use chayote? It sure seems prolific, based on the plants I've seen, but I've never grown it myself--no ground space.

Thanks, Silvia!

Thanks everyone, DG I will be growing it on a 2x4 and 4x4 trillis that I have not built yet. See I've got this area that I will be putting chickens in a chicken tractor. I'm going to make a large shade trilles over that area. I think chayote will be perfect to grow over it and what we can't eat can go to the chickens.

Joe thank you for the info please let me how it goes.

Silvia,i cooked some for dinner tonight and got to say that it was good and I think I can make it great with practice,use to eat a stuffed version but the ladies who brought them in to work called them choko. Had no idea it was the same thing and didn't know it would grow here. Large production will be a plus.

Writersblock so far stuffed is my favorite but I don't know how to do it yet. I'm going to have to fix that. Tonight I cooked it just like I do zucchini. Loved it. And don't think I will have any problems getting kids to eat it since it is gone.

It's going to take some time to find and build what I need but I'm looking forward to growing it this will make a great perennial veggie in the garden.

And any and all cooking suggestions are welcome

Glenn, your plan sounds good. The chickens will help with the surplus for sure.

Here are some simple recipes for you to try.

http://thelatinkitchen.com/recipes/a/fall-ingredient-essentials-chayote

Silvia

Glenn, if the ladies were from Jamaica, I had this chocho dish while I was there...Maybe it is the same one that you remember?

http://www.geniuskitchen.com/recipe/jamaican-stuffed-cho-cho-372742

Silvia

LOL Oh man, chocho is a very comically vulgar word to some Spanish speakers. So if you hear giggling after sharing that recipe for stuffed Chocho it's probably from someone who knows the word to mean something completely different! Anyway Choko is what chayote is called in Australia and New Zealand so the recipe may have been from one of those two countries.

It has a lot of different names in FL, too, Florida_Joes: chayote, mirliton, militon, christophine, tayota, cho-cho, etc, etc. depending on what culture you're from.

Same way that pigeon peas are gandules, gram, gandil, gungo peas, and on and on.

Not long ago I was with a friend looking at a house for sale, and I said, "Ooh, sapodilla," about a tree in the front yard. He looked at me blankly so I tried nazeberry, zapote, zapotillo, chicle, and finally he said, "Oh, chico!"

Thank you Silvia, that stuff chayote seems like it might be similar to 1 of the types the ladies would bring in and that soup sounds good as do the others. Joe's I'm aware of the giggle effect don't speak Spanish but have seen the effect it in action.

Writers block, commen names can be funny. I have a Spanish neighbor who is a gardener every once in awhile he comes over. He doesn't speak good English but we get by fine. Well last time he was over he asked if he could have some green beans. I said sure and gave him a bag and told him he could have as much as he wanted. He quickly walked past the green beans and to my pigeon peas and filled up the bag. Was a little confused but whatever. Later that day his wife came over to thank me for the pigeon peas and told me green beans was the closest English word he new for them. All's good some times I find big bags of leaves waiting for me when I get home. He knows I use them as mulch.

How did the Chayote Squash project turn out?

I am thinking of trying this year. I am considering using a big pot or something to avoid nematodes..

sultry it came up and grew well in my starter pot but when i put it in the ground it turned black in a couple of days and died. i dont know why plan on trying again but not this year.

Thanks Glenn. I found one yesterday at Walmart so I am setting it on the counter to wait for it to sprout. I will put it staight into the ground some where it can climb. I hear it will get large lol. I like experimenting with seeds/bulbs etc from the farmers markets and grocery stores. Its fun to see what will happen.

Glenn, you could plant pigeon peas around the chicken coop. I plant them everywhere I need quick shade, since they grow so fast, or maybe chaya? Not sure if chickens can eat the chaya leaves, so look that up. Might be a bad idea.

I planted two pigeon peas in small pots last summer. I put the pots in a fenced off rose bed then forgot about them. One died and the other got tall about 5 1/2 ft lol. It has survived drought and several frosts. It is well grown into the ground lol. I need to dig it up and put it in the veggie garden and be nice to it.

They probably could survive chickens if you put some wire around them until they get bigger. My chicken pens get a lot of shade or I would try it.