Gourd Army

OK, so I got moderately distracted this past weekend and cut gourds off the withered vines and set them on Lizzie’s porch (for a few months of drying and curing).

I’ve read that the gourds can be harvested when the “stems” turned brown and withered; they also can be left out until frost and harvested after the vines are completely dead. I chose to go ahead and harvest them. Actually, I just cut a couple and the next thing I knew the wheelbarrow was full x 2.

Mrs C mocked me appropriately for carefully setting up my little gourd army so that all were sheltered and wobble free. (In my defense, at this stage the shells are hardening but are still soft enough where a fall might bruise enough to allow rot to set in.)

Anyhow, they’ve made themselves all comfortable now; when I came back out and they’d moved up onto the chairs and the little ones were even up on the table.

There are several that are still too green to cut; there are maybe 45 on the porch and another dozen or two on the vine. I’ll have ample stock to make bug-eater birdhouses for next season. Now, what to do the with the other 40……