Gourdville 2013 Revisited

A few of the big gourds from last year have finally cured/dried to the point where they can be cleaned (and made ready for whatever it is I’m going to do with these.)
These have been sitting out in the weather all winter, lined up on boards to keep them off the ground. These go from weighing upwards of five and ten pounds to just a few ounces and in the process grow all sorts of mold on both the shell’s surface and the disintegrating skin.
Various cleaning methods and materials are recommended by fellow gourders on the interweb, the common denominator being much scrubbing with an abrasive pad of some sort. After getting an annoying amount of bleach laden water on my skin while spending way too much time and energy on the first bunch, I changed strategy.
The new approach was to ditch the bleach, skip the dish soap, and extend the soaking period significantly.
An hour or two under a wet towel in a $7 wading pool and the moldy skin/surface grime was easily scoured off with a copper “Chore Boy” dish scrubber. I kept a hose/sprayer handy with the intent of using it to rinse the cleaned gourds, but mainly used it to remove the goo from the chore boy.

I promise, this is the way to do it- don’t be in a hurry, just keep the surface wet for a couple hours and you’ll be ahead of the game.

Bobbing apple gourds in the $7 wading pool (someone decided he wanted the gourds out of his pool).

How easy?

The nasty side of a well soaked apple gourd:

The same gourd partially scrubbed and rinsed for comparison:

All scrubbed up, the latest batch of bushel basket gourds is now hanging to dry (and for all to admire) on Lizzie’s porch.

Only about 30 or 40 to go now…..