These are many of the dried gourds from last year's harvest. If you look closely you'll see several different types.

There are many ways to dry and clean gourds. The way we do it follows: All of these gourds spent the winter in our attic. During that period of time they turned from luscious green to furry black and white. Once they were fully dry and the weather turned warm enough, we started the cleaning process. We soak our gourds for a few hours in water that contains bleach, then scrub them clean with a copper chore-boy. Each gourd then gets a thorough rinsing and dries in the sun.

When the larger gourds are green, at the end of the summer, they can be very heavy. Each cell of their fruited body contains water. As they sit over the winter that water escapes and evaporates. By the end of the cleaning process a gourd that weighed over forty pounds green can end up weighing only a few pounds. That difference makes for a lot of water!

The funny looking gourd in the photo below (big round base with a curved neck) was very heavy when green. It was also a big surprise! We bought the seeds on ebay and had forgotten what the mature gourd looked like. As we were getting ready to go on a trip during the growing season last year, we took a quick tour through the garden. On a whim, I moved a couple of leaves searching for gourds and found this monster hiding beneath them. It will probably become a fun hat (the top part) and a large bowl for serving (the base).

Gourds have been used around the world for many things. You've seen our rattles; there are also tambourines, drums, mbiras, banjos and other musical instruments. Gourds have been used to hold and store liquids, and for carrying water from the local river. Many cultures have used them for food purposes as well. We've made treasure boxes from some of ours, which you can see by following the next link.

More Gourd Links