my farmer friend said that gourds that match are all from the same plant...
Try to describe a gourd and you might find it trickier than you thought. Perhaps the word makes you think of those gnarly squash-like fruits that show up with pumpkins in the fall. However, gourds come in many more shapes and colors, and range in size from a large egg to bigger than a bushel basket. Dried gourds can be stained, painted, waxed, or carved into dippers, birdhouses, toys, bowls, and planters. Musical instruments such as flutes, lutes, maracas, and drums can be fashioned from the hard-shelled fruit. Small gourds, left whole, add splashes of color to autumn decor. And did you know that the luffa sponge comes from a gourd?
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/pumpkins-gourds-152b2ba4-c6824b4ab78f48af9c772097aef57356.jpg)
What Is a Gourd?
Gourds, like pumpkins, melons, squash and cucumbers, are members of the cucurbit or squash family. Like their cousins, gourds grow on long vines. There are three major gourd groups. Cucurbit gourds are small, decorative, colorful, thick-shelled and sometimes warty. Lagenaria gourds are larger and can be used for a variety of utilitarian or decorative functions. This group includes bottle, basket, and dipper gourds. The third group is the luffa gourd. Its elongated fruit contains a fibrous material that is used as a sponge. Most gourds are strictly ornamental, but a few can be eaten like summer squash, if they are harvested young.
List of different types at link:
https://www.bhg.com/gardening/vegetable/vegetables/types-of-gourds/
I'm almost hesitate to plant anything, even my native plants are suffering.
A few pulled through like this pink bower vine:
And trumpet flower "tree":
It's cool in the house and hot outside so they can't seem to make up their minds:
We finally got a good rain ! Now have to figure out what to do with green tomatoes.
"Are any gourds edible?"
Answer: Some ARE and some Are NOT.
So FYI:
From www.livestrong.com -
Our very young son planted his gourd seeds early in the season in Iowa.
He grew “warty” guards and saved them until they turned goopy...
We’ve had several hard freezes here the last week so the garden is basically done, except for the celery and Brussel Sprouts, which I was able to protect.
I am surprised at the crop I got from the celery. I have been busy drying the leaves for celery flakes to add to soups and stews in the event that this winter celery should become unavailable.
The forecast for the northeast is for a week in the 60’s and lows in the 40’s. This is great as mr. mm and I are getting a LOT of outdoor stuff done. We expect to have our wood pile all split and stacked by the end of the week.
I’ve cleaned out most of the garden and will have the straw ready to cover the garlic and asparagus beds when the ground freezes.
I got about 20 butternut squash, which will last us a good long time, and need to get those down into the garage for storage. They are finished curing.
I’m already planning out next year’s garden and will be starting celery, Brussel sprouts, onions, and shallots, earlier in the spring than I did this year.
Not sure what kind of squash I’ll grow next year. I have enough pumpkin from last year yet, most of it canned, to last me a long time. I guess I’ll have to see how fast the butternut gets eaten and how long it will keep.
We have been given a blessed BONUS of 4 days in a row in the 70’s. It’s just gorgeous outside and exactly what Fall Days should be like!
Beau is catching up on mowing jobs for the neighbors. We got our latest steer calf. Named him ‘Chuck.’ Beau also started staining the deck, so that project is underway.
I am finally done with all of my canning and preserving. I am down to one box of apples, which we will eat fresh, the rest have been juiced and/or made into pies which I froze, apple butter and apple sauce. That Luberty apple is great for sauce. If you cook the apples down with the skins on (though cored) the color is a gorgeous shade of pink.
So, I am cleaning out more garden beds, and we have enough leaves this season (less windy than usual, though breezy today) to use them for mulch over the strawberries, the asparagus and the new bulbs I’m going to plant. Puppies last season dug up a bunch, but they have been forgiven. Both have turned out to be stellar bear hunting dogs. Shasta and Fremont. Good Dogs! WOOF!
Mowing is done for the season - what grass is left will be for Chuck to graze until there is no more.
Bear Season is done, so Beau is home more, now. Yay! They treed 56 black bear from July through mid-October, which was a record. They only had a few tags this season, so they only culled 6 bear, I think, though one was over 500# and most likely a record setter for the season in Wisconsin. Beau got the biggest Back Bear in 2016.
I’ll post some pix later this week of fall-ish things around the farm. And my salad greens are growing great in the greenhouse and outside in a few 5 gallon nursery pots.
I’d better, ‘make hay while the sun shines!’ Later! :)
Squash & beans got frosted out this past week; all that’s left of the garden is the one cabbage that survived the summer heat wave.
They don’t know it, but the favas are done—they can take down to 21F; but I picked them clean. Barely enough to plant next year.
My pole beans were a total bust, both O.P. heritage, and hybrids. OTOH, the black Meaty Beans & my Kurzer’s limas did an excellent job, all considered: lots of empty pods, but still about a quart each of dried, plus next year’s seed.
My Straight Eight cukes gave me a total of 5, each only 3-5 inches long; but good flavor.
Picking the last of the Meaty Beans, I found the last kabocha squash hiding under a pile of dead squash leaves & vine. That makes 6 or 7 for this winter. We stuffed one, and it seemed drier fleshed than usual, but good flavor & texture.
Had a dearth of earthworms this year, which is unusual.
Irritation tank, pump, lines, and hoses drained. Just need to do some tilling, and get the last of the firewood cut & split.
Hopefully, next year will be a bit cooler and moister: NOTE: I said “a BIT”; don’t need mid-June snowstorms!
I've been keeping busy trying to get things ready for winter here. Had a load of base rock delivered on Friday and did some touch-up work on the driveway. Spent several hours underneath Nanner yesterday beating and prying at the pin that secures the steering cylinder to the front drive axle. It's probably never been taken apart and that cursed pin is not wanting to come out. I'll get it out of there eventually, even if it takes using the smoke wrench on it.
I got quite a bit of work done in the victory garden over the weekend, not that you could tell by looking at all of this formerly beautiful sweet corn that's now dead as a hammer.
I picked all of the dry bean pods and stripped the vines off of the arbor. Brown Santa truck brought a large roll of 6mil clear plastic sheeting Saturday morning, but it was way too windy to attempt that task. The space heater for the greenhouse showed up yesterday. Heat mats are out and ready. I finished the 2nd planter box and put a layer of road base on the ground inside. The larger box has been sown with radishes, spinach, and salad greens. I'm thinking that I might try some turnips in the smaller planter box. I've got a pair of 32 cell flats seeded with cabbage, kale, and collards. The plan is to put that stuff in the ground under the bean arbor.
To give you an idea just how dry it's been in this part of Misery over the summer take a look at my pond dock. When the pond is full the runway on the floating section is flush with the fixed section. It's now ~3' low.
Pete is correct .... LOL! Part of ‘my’ problem is I didn’t bookmark last week’s current thread - I have rectified that problem.
October is going by so fast, I guess I haven’t kept up, so being a week in the past ... I sort of like it, but then that’s not reality ... oh well :-)
It’s 10:00 & I’m headed outside ... weather is a bit ‘misty’ (heavy fog in the area this morning). The tree guys are here taking down 4 huge pines ... the chunks hitting the ground are so large, we hear the ‘thud’ & the ground shakes. Fortunately, none of the trees are near the garden!
Boo boo is badly bruised/sore this morning, but the bleeding stopped after a couple of hours, so that’s progress ... I really got myself good.
Posting on the correct thread!
I just lucked on this ...’perfect’ for the “The Wonderful World of Gourds Edition”. You folks have GOT to see these carved gourds .... some people are just SO talented - the gourds are absolutely gorgeous! If you click on the pics, you can see a larger version & more of the carving detail.
https://www.marilynsunderlandstudios.com/gallery/
https://www.marilynsunderlandstudios.com/gallery/western-gourds/
Not much happening in my garden right now. Jut the usual end of summer/beginning of fall stuff. Surprisingly, petunias still flourishing.