Fall Food: Akebi

Early fall (September-October) is when we can sometimes find the purple sausage fruit akebi in some stores. This year was the first time I tried it.

We split one, only eating the inside fruit part. I didn't bother learning how to cook the outside part although I guess it can be done.

It was okay. It's a bit of work to eat around the seeds and overall the taste isn't too sweet. I guess if you eat them regularly they are healthy. I was more interested in the plants.

We have some wild akebi plants growing along the manmade river near us, although we don't ever see any fruit. And they might be a variety that is not a good fruit type. I have a weird habit of reading too much about random topics, and this was one of them. I learned that the plants are three years old before they bear fruit. Every year, a crew comes and cuts all the kuzu and wild plants down, so I'm guessing that is why I don't see the fruit. But the flowers are weird and pretty.

I saved these seeds and am trying to grow plants from them now. I have this idea that they would be pretty "green curtain" plants next summer. The thing is, they seem to like a lot of water and might not survive summer if I'm in charge. We'll see if the seeds grow first. Have any of you tried growing akebi plants?