Cucurbita Love!

[tenacity]

Yaaaaay gourds! This completely useless message has been crafted for the sole purpose of celebrating the gourd madness that is summer! I've got baby melons and squashes and vines all over the place, and I hope y'all's are doing as well as mine.

The birdhouse gourds are particularly fertile. This is my first time with this plant, so watching the little baby gourds spring up all along the vines is really cool. Of course, I overplanted, and so now I have vines growing all over my trellis, up my tomato supports, climbing the trees, growing over the bench, falling over the lawn...my Phx Az yard looks like the set of a Tarzan film! Once those vines get going they don't slow down.

To the fantastic person who asked for seeds - I haven't forgotten you, I've just been crazy busy with school and work. I have Sunday off, and will be sending your seeds then.

So, guys, when these eight million little birdhouse gourds ripen and fall, what should I do with them? Thanks to all their foliage, I already have eight million birds!

[TQ]

Let/s see 'em!

Free and EZ pix posting @ ...

[Nightingale]

I don't know what others do, but this is my method:

When harvesting the gourds, be careful not to cut, scrape or bruise the skin. I harvest them all at the same time, at the end of the year when the foliage is dying off.

Put them directly into an area that gets plenty of air and is not damp. Basements are out, attics and sheds are good.

Sit the gourds on newspaper (or alternately, hang them) so that none are touching.

Forget about them.

Come back next spring and they will be dried out and covered with a blotchy, black-and-grey mold. Unless you're doing some artsy-fartsy thing with them, you'll want to remove this mold by wiping, sanding, washing, etc. (I've tried them all, they all work with different results). You'll be left with a beautifully patterned gourd, dried and ready to carve.

Enjoy!

-Kays

[tenacity]

Thank you so much! I didn't know what to do with them.

I plan on painting them and hanging them on my pond gazebo- I have at least four coming. They're so cool - I grew them on a fluke this year but l'll plant them more carefully next year. I'll put them along my front fence to make the most of my vines and get more of the flowers available to the bugs and bees.

[Nightingale]

Gourds are great. I normally have birdhouse, dipper and apple gourds, but last year I planted some spinner gourds, too. These little guys spin like tops and are small so you can carry one in your pocket. I painted mine in bright spirals so they look like they're winding when they spin.

Next year I want to try some bushel gourds ;-)

This is all a bit off-topic on an edible gardens list. Try here for more info:

-K