Heirloom Birdhouse Gourds

[HomesteaderWife]

We have a few heirloom birdhouse gourd seeds for sale that were grown last year. It takes them quite some time to grow and dry completely! We planted ours at the end of April and picked on the first day of November. The stems were dry, and they were then taken into our shop and hung to dry the rest of the way.

They are RUNNERS! They need a good deal of space to grow, and they will climb (we had them climb up a Pine tree nearly ten feet in the air). However, even though they need room, they are so fun to grow and when they're dried, it would be a great project to make birdhouses with your family! We painted some and took to a yard sale. If you're a good painter and want to sell them or really enjoy birdwatching, you should grow some! There is a lady locally that paints them and sells them for $35 + !!!

A beautiful little gourd running on the fence

The painted gourd we made

Some of the gourds drying in the building (please ignore the art projects!)

20 seeds

20 seeds for $5 includes postage costs. We are rural, so we try to send orders out immediately!

We also have a handful of Hastings Prolific heirloom (white dent corn) seed available. There's 100 seeds left over, and we have it $6 for 50 seeds or $10 for the 100. This is the best corn by far we have grown, and it makes excellent feed. Huge ears! Read our articles about it in two parts on Mother Earth News:

Part 1- https://www.motherearthnews.com/organic-gardening/hastings-prolific-corn-part-1-zbcz1607
Part 2 - https://www.motherearthnews.com/org...rolific-an-heirloom-dent-corn-part-2-zbcz1609



Please just comment or PM me for more info if you're interested. Thank you!

 

[Smart Red]

I second the idea that gourds are fun and easy to grow. I started mine in Styrofoam cups. On Memorial Day I laid black fabric, tore the bottom out, any planted the whole thing in a hole cut in the maierial.
Then I left for two weeks.
When I returned the plants had really taken off. I suspect the black fabric added needed heat as well as kept moisture in the soil.

I had planted five different types of gourds. They grew over and into each other along the fabric. Whenever a vine started growing off the fabric, I just turned the vine back into itself.

I harvested the gourds well before Halloween here in zone 4-5. Some were painted and became marachas. Some were made into bird houses without painting, (just cleaning well provided a lovely, polished surface) and some were decorated as gifts or set into front yard trees.

 

[HomesteaderWife]

@Smart Red - We actually cut two off around Halloween, as pumpkins are too expensive here, and we cut them the same way and put tealight candles inside of them! I painted my own "fake pumpkin" orange! That was a fun craft! Did you have the chance to grow the long-handled dipper gourds?

 

[Smart Red]

Yes. Dipper gourds, penguin gourds, bushels, birdhouse, and smaller ornamental gourds for harvest decorations all inside one 10 x 10 ft. space.

It was a tangled mess but with the black fabric down I didn't need to get inside for weeding.

 

[Smart Red]

I plant pumpkins near the fence lines....well out of my way. Squash/gourd-type seedlings do NOT like transplanting. That's why they get their start in something I can make bottomless and pot the whole thing in the ground.