October 3, 2010
I had not done it for several years, so this summer I decided to grow gourds, just for fun. My climate is a bit cool for hard-shelled Lagenaria gourds, but ornamental gourds classified as Cucurbita pepo var. ovifera love it here. I grew the Harrowsmith Select mixture from Johnny’s Selected Seeds, and as you can see I harvested a range of shapes, sizes and color combinations.
The gourd vines wandered about wildly, which felt like having toddlers in the garden. They wanted to run everywhere, and just when I’d get one bunch redirected down a prosperous path, others would stray into the beans, raspberries, blueberries, you name it.
If you plan to grow gourds, I recommend using a seed mixture, because variability between plants is the most interesting part of the adventure. Some types will fruit much earlier than others! In my experience, those that fruit late are worth waiting for because of their hard, waxy rinds.
What does one do with all these gourds? Several friends and neighbors are now gourd rich, and I gave away two baskets of gourds at the Mother Earth News Fair. A nicely arranged gourd basket will bring color to Roger’s office for months, which could never be said for a cut flower arrangement.
Here at home, you can’t look anywhere without seeing bright or bumpy gourds. Some little ones are festooned on our driveway marker, others lounge about on fence posts and rails, and out in the garden I’m using a few as weights for row covers and blankets. The crown of thorns are especially good for this because they don’t roll as much as the rounder ones.
