Hello everyone. Do any of you know about gourd growing? I have grown some birdhouse gourds this year and I;m very excited about them, when do you pick them off the vines some of them are so big and round some have long necks, is there certain gourds for certain birds? I think they will be fun, what do you all think>
We grew ladle gourds a couple of years ago. Those got picked when the vines started to die off--yellowing leaves and the stems attaching the gourds to the vines got brown and started to dry. Some got really big, and nearly took down the fence the vines were growing on. I think any bird that makes a nest will use a gourd--those that prefer platforms (like finches, robins, phoebes, etc.) won't move into an enclosed nest site. I"ve seen purple martin nest "condominiums" made of gourds.
Are these here yours? they are very nice, I didn't know they got so big and thick. I can't wait to decorate them for next spring, that will be a winter project, I am also going to try and make some concrete leaves, Have you ever done those? I like to have things to do in winter they are so long, so I try and plan ahead for what I am going to do, Crazy Huh ! Thank you for the info Margie
https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=gourd crafts Just look at the things here. I have seen many unique items made from them. Even the cutest little vignettes made by removing the side and creating little scenes inside.
Margie one thing you do need to do is allow the gourds to dry out completely. Someplace where you have good air circulation. I let mine dry in our pole building. Then you take a nylon scrubby, fill up a tub with 1 part bleach to 10 parts water mixture. Should be enough water to cover the gourd as you do not want to breath any of the stuff you are scrubbing off. The outside usually has dried mold spores so doing the scrubbing in water keeps them contained. I would do an online search about cleaning gourds. Plus you need to take extra precautions when cutting into and cleaning out the inside of a gourd. Please to some home work to protect your self. I have several gourds in my basement that have been waiting for years to have something done with them. Maybe this winter. I always say it is better to be safe than sorry.
Margie, those birdhouse gourds are not our gourds since our ladle gourds have "convoluted" stems. They make good dippers for bird seed, potting soil, etc. The photo shows a couple we decorated, and also one that we made a bowl from. You can tell when the gourd is good and dry when you can hear the seeds inside rattle. We still had to scrape the inside, using an old spoon, sharpened. We don't grow gourds any longer--there is just a few uses for them, and we don't want to have to repair our fence yearly! We have made paving stones with a leaf imprint. A rough form, pour in quickset, smooth it out and then press a big leaf into it, or several smaller leaves. We haven't found any way to remove the leaf, but it decomposes in a month or so, depending on how much foot traffic the paver gets.
