Dipper gourd success!

[marlingardener]

We finally got a dipper gourd to dry so that we could cut it and remove the seeds. It isn't one of the bigger gourds, but it is the first! We have it hanging on the kitchen wall. If all the gourds out there on the vines dry, we'll be looking for something to do with them. We only have so much kitchen wall space!

 

[ACSAPA]

That looks pretty cool. Maybe if you dry a few of the gourds out, you can sell those ladles at a craft fair.

 

[claudine]

It's the first time when I see a dipper gourd. Is it a vegetable? What does it taste like? At first I thought that it's a picture of a weird, wooden spoon, haha

 

[R.R.]

You could make some bird feeders with some

 

[marlingardener]

I don't know if it's technically a vegetable, but what else could a gourd be? Claudine, it isn't edible, and yes, it is a weird wooden spoon. When folks didn't have pewter, silver, or even tin eating utensils, gourds were used to serve food, and to eat it.
Acsapa, that is an idea, and we have a friend who does craft fairs. We may offer her some gourds if we have enough to make it worth her time to sell them.
R.R., they will work as bird feeders, but since there is no drainage, a good rain will cause the seed to ferment and we'd have a bunch of buzzed birds! We could drill little drainage holes. If we are blessed with a plethora of gourds, we may try that!

 

[Trellum]

This might be a bit far off, but I really think you could sell those :O I mean there are people who love making all sorts of things with those, here some examples:

I'm thinking of Etsy

 

[claudine]

Haha, silly me, I honestly thought that it's something edible
Trellum, the pictures that you posted are really interesting! I especially like the third one. Those pots and cups look very nice and natural.

 

[marlingardener]

Oh boy, just wait until my husband (the official gourd cutter) sees the one with the leaf pattern! He'll run away from home!

 

[Meowmie]

I love these, and they do fetch a good price at craft fairs, etc. Since my garden space for the next few years is limited I'm sticking to things I can eat, but looking forward to the day I have extra room to plant and create things with these.

I

 

[marlingardener]

Meowmie, after years of gardening town, with limited space and having to choose what to plant and how much, we have had so much pleasure in having the space to experiment with different plants. We have had some really great failures, and a few successes, but all of it has been a learning experience.
When you have the extra room, enjoy trying out different things, and don't worry if it doesn't work out. We learn more from our mistakes than from our successes!

 

[claudine]

Marlingardener, I feel exactly the same way. Experimenting can be so much fun! I don't have my own place yet, but my parents let me use a part of their garden. Even though it's rather small, I want to start growing a few completely new plants there next year

 

[Meowmie]

I fully intend to try all kinds of things. My only limit at the moment is it has to be edible. Nothing that is just decorative. Every inch of my 'pesticide free" space is for food. We have flowers in other parts of the yard, but I think hubby would not appreciate me growing some sprawling gourds in the front yard. I've already got one neighbor freaking out because I dare to have a vegie garden in my side yard, which is on the street because we are on a corner lot. She is one that will not ever benefit from extra vegies we have to share

 

[marlingardener]

Meowmie, I'm so sorry that your neighbor is so short-sighted that she doesn't see the beauty of a vegetable garden. Our vegetable gardens are in front of the barn, highly visible from the road, and we've had people stop to ask about the vegetables or just comment on how pretty the different shades of green, the ripening peppers and tomatoes, and the sprawl of the squash vines are!
However, no one has commented on how lovely my dirty, sweaty self is.

 

[Pat]

The pictures of the gourds are beautiful, if I saw one at a fair I would purchase it as a gift or for myself as home decor.