Gourds
Nature's Natural Containers!

Gourds,  Gourds,  Gourds,  the  Wonderful  World  of  Gourds!

   Gourds are phenomenal!  They are nature's natural containers.  My love affair with gourds began after I planted my first hard-shelled gourd seed. What happened next was nothing short of amazing.  What a sight to see.  Gourds were everywhere!  If you'd like to grow your own gourds, please see instructions below for gourd growing, cleaning and decorating.

Growing Gourds

  Growing Hard Shelled Gourds There are many different planting guides to use when growing gourds and I've tried many of them, but I'm only going to share with you the growing method that works best for me. This method has allowed me to grow some of the most beautiful gourds I have ever seen. My gourds are thick skinned, healthy and absolutely gorgeous.

  I work exclusively with hard-shelled gourds because the finished product is like that of wood, only this "gourd wood" creates it's own shape. I love it. To quote something I read in a Better Homes and Gardens article on gourds, it said, "Plant a seed and harvest some artwork. That just about says it all. When you plant gourds, you really do have "ready made artwork. It is so exciting. All you have to do after you bring in your harvest of gourds is to clean them and decide what "art" you wish to create.

   Choosing Seed Before buying your gourd seed, you need to decide what types of gourds you want to grow. (Again, I only grow hard-shelled gourds.) There are big, medium and small gourds, and also many different shapes to choose from. The Gourd and Seed Source links lead you to a couple of sites where you can order gourd seed if you wish to grow your own, or to gourds which have already been grown and harvested if you decide not to grow your own. These sites also tell you about all the different shapes and sizes of gourds and how much they sell both the gourds and seeds for. It's a big help to be able to see which types of gourds are available before making a decision on what to buy. 

   One last note before we get to the growing instructions. All the gourd seed I've ever planted were pretty easy to grow except for the giant bushel and African wine bottle gourd seed. These seeds are very big and need your help to get started. Each of these gourd seed should be scraped down the side with a knife to expose the interior seed to the growing medium (dirt). If you don't do this, your seed will take forever to emerge from the ground. Once they get started though, watch out. Boy do they grow big. It's really a sight to see. Make sure you grow them vertically on a trellis, or if not, you must provide plenty of ground space to let them spread out while they grow. And, if you want your large gourds to have a flat bottom, I’ve found that planting them on the ground, making sure they are always sitting upright when growing, ensures that you will have a flat bottom when they are ready to be harvested.

   Growing Instructions Plant your gourd seed after the last frost as soon as the ground warms. Plant them two inches deep and eight feet apart, in rows of four feet apart and in full sun. Soak your seeds in warm water the night before planting them. Seeds should be kept moist until the plants emerge from the ground and should be watered regularly thereafter. Make sure you give your gourds plenty of water. They love water. As your gourds start to grow, to create more gourds, cut the end off the main vine when it reaches 8-10 feet to stimulate more lateral growth. Don't forget to grow them on a trellis unless you have a lot of ground space for them to spread. Besides loving water, gourds love well-fertilized soil. I use a 10-10-10 fertilizer for the first couple of months until they develop a nice healthy root system. Then I switch to a nitrogen-free fertilizer when the fruits begin to set, to promote faster and healthier gourd fruit growth.

   Stop watering and fertilizing your gourds in the early fall so that they can start drying out. Allow at least three to six and even nine months (depending upon the size of the gourds you planted) for your gourds to grow to maturity and another four, five or six months to dry. Could be longer for the giant bushel gourds and African wine bottle. Harvesting gourds too early will make them shrivel and rot. Harvest them in the fall when the vine and fruits have turned brown and when you can hear the gourd seed rattle inside the gourd. When your gourds are dry, they are ready to be cleaned. Store unused gourds under shelter, on pallets, for good air circulation.

Cleaning Gourds

   Cleaning the outside of a gourd — Soak your gourds in water, in your kitchen sink, bathtub, or outside in some type of container and add a small amount of Clorox to the water. Put in as many gourds as you can fit in at one time. The amount of gourds you put in your basin all at one time to soak is determined by how big your basin or cleaning container is and how big your gourds are. Because gourds float to the surface of the water, a portion of them will be out of the water. Grab some old dishtowels or worn material and soak them in the Clorox water. Then wrap them around each gourd so as not to let any part of the gourd be exposed. To make cleaning your gourds easier, let them soak for about an hour to loosen the dirt before you try to clean them. When soaking time is over, use a plastic or copper-scouring pad to scrub off all the exterior dirt. After they are clean, let them dry. Drying takes about a half an hour. Note: If you have really stubborn stains (mold or hard dirt spots) you can remove these gently with a dull knife. 

   Cleaning the Inside of a Gourd - The inside of the gourd can be cleaned after the top of the gourd is removed with a craft knife, razor knife, hand saw or power tool. The easiest way to mark an even, fail proof circle around your gourd is to invest in a Dritz hem marker. You should be able to buy one of these in any sewing material store. This tool is incredible! Once your “even” line is made, cut along the line you drew. Be careful when cutting so that if you want to save the top to use as a lid, the pieces will fit back nicely together. Once the top is off, remove all the seeds and loose porous material from inside your gourd. Be sure to save your seed for next spring’s planting. Clean them first and store them in your refrigerator. It's best to do the inside cleaning of your gourds outside. Some people get sick smelling the inside pulp from gourds and cannot tolerate the dust inside the gourds. Once you remove the seeds and loose porous material from inside your gourd, use whatever tool you can find for whatever size gourd you are cleaning to remove the rest of the inside. Scrape along all sides and bottom of your gourd so that the inside is as smooth as possible. Use anything in your kitchen that can help you scrape the inside out. Normally, a grapefruit spoon or stiff wire brush will do nicely. But, there are so many different shaped gourds and what works for one may not work for the other. So, find whatever tool works best for your specific gourd. The teeth on a grapefruit spoon and the wire on a stiff brush usually removes everything you’ll need to remove from your gourd. If you are going to use the top of your gourd for a lid, its interior needs to be scraped as well. Depending upon how and what you are going to be using your gourd for will determine if you need to sand the inside with sand paper to perfection or not.

Decorating Gourds

   Decorating your Gourds — If you are not the “artsy” type, there are many stencils at craft stores that can help you get started with designs to pyroengrave , draw, paint or etch onto your gourds. Pyroengrave is a method of wood burning using a wood-burning tool. This tool can sometimes be found at Walmart and usually always at most arts and craft stores. You can find plenty of ideas and designs for your gourds in coloring books, library books and magazines. It helps some of us to draw or transfer our designs onto our gourds before cutting, carving, pyroengraving, or adding color to make sure that what we want will look the way we want it to and fit just right. If you are going to copy a design onto your gourds, try using transfer paper, or plain carbon copy paper, to help you make an exact copy. Transfer paper can be purchased at most arts and craft stores and carbon copy paper at Walmart, or any office supply store. Your gourds can be left plain and natural too. Make bowls, gourd baskets and faux water pitchers w/out designs for an unbeatable look.

   Preserving Gourds — After your design is done, you’ll need to preserve it. You can preserve your gourds by using all the polishes normally used to preserve wood products — like paints, stains, dyes and oils. Any medium used on wood can be used on gourds. Gourds are wood! So, when you are finished decorating your gourd, finish it off by sealing it with a coat of polyurethane, oil, shoe polish, or some type of varnish. Read the manufacturer’s instructions to get the look you want. If you like the natural look of wood, finish your gourd off with a simple polyurethane sealer, oil, or neutral shoe polish.

   
  
Testimonials
(Nativa Yerba Mate's)
   "Some of the companies Yerba Mate say they have all leaf, and they do look a little different, but they are twice as much money, $8-10 per pound."
 
Donald Shine
Gainesville, Florida

  "I always drank green tea as a healthy diet supplement to my coffee drinking. In the fast paced IT industry caffeine seems to be a requirement. When I started discussing the health reasons we drank green tea with a coworker, we both agreed we did not like the taste and only drank out of necessity. One day he sent me a generic article about the health benefits of yerba mate. I hit the Internet searching for information and a supplier. I tried two different brands and immediately settled on Nativa yerba mate. The taste is so great that I was able to discontinue my life long habit of coffee drinking! I have not missed coffee since. I also have fun at business meetings where coffee and bottled water are prevalent, and I am sitting there drinking out of my gourd of Nativa yerba mate." Mark Keil
Chief Information Officer
City of Chattanooga
Chattanooga, Tennessee

  Gourd and Seed Sources:  

Tom Keller Gourds - www.enterit.com
Welburn Gourd Farm - www.welburngourdfarm.com/
Acres Seed - www.wuvie.net
 
Florida Gourd Society

Piney Bay
Last Update: 11/09/09 10:28:53 AM
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