Plant Notebook: Gourds
We are at autumn’s high point. Pumpkins wait in the field on curling vines, in tones from Halloween orange to ghostly grey to spectral white. Mushrooms pop up from the forest floor, pushing through the carpet of fallen leaves now turning from golden crunch to the dun of decay. These toadstools provide a sitting place for wandering wee folk from winged fairy to mischievous hobgoblin. For all of the mushrooms’ delicacy, they are perfectly capable of defending themselves with a puff of smoke or, for some, a case of the icks.
Indeed, bizarre organisms rule Halloween. Lichens attach to deadwood and rock strata, signaling the symbiosis between fungus and algae, echoing the interdependent rhythms of bounty and harvest. Mold and mildew merge with, often eventually to consume, their hosts. How fitting during this time of the dwindling harvest that rot displays its odd beauty in powdery silver filaments, slimy green mycelia, blue veins putrefying through yellowing bodies.
Yet not all autumn beauty arises from degeneration. Like those pumpkins, winter squash comes alive during the autumn months, and remains available and viable until summer squashes take over next spring. Winter squash finds its way to table from ravioli to risotto, Thanksgiving pie to seasonal latté. Jack o’Lanterns grin from window and porch, the candlelight within their hollowed chambers recalling ancient welcomes along ancient roads. And some winter squash find themselves scattered across mantles and tumbling from cornucopias, as this is not just the season of pumpkin and butternut, but of gourds.
Gourds are the wacky cousins of the family Cucurbitaceae. The fundamental distinction between squashes is that edible squashes are thin-skinned with interiors of soft flesh and seeds, all consumable (though regarding the skins of most winter squashes, you wouldn’t want to). Squashes referred to colloquially as gourds are thick skinned and most of them are inedible. But what they lack culinarily they make up for in usability, history, variety, and delightful weirdness.
The family of vining plants known scientifically as cucurbits includes approximately 965 species, not just pumpkins and gourds but also cucumbers and melons. Most gourds are recognizable by their distinctive shapes including bumps and warts, colorful markings, common names, and whether or not we can eat them. Gourds are characterized as edible, utilitarian, or ornamental. The field of edible squashes includes the recognizable pumpkin, butternut, acorn, spaghetti, chayote, turban, and zucchini varieties. The field of utilitarian and ornamental gourds is much broader, with descriptive nomenclature such as bottle, snake, sponge, dipper, luffa, wax, pointed, penguin, hedgehog, ivy, daisy, ash, birdhouse, and buffalo.
Gourds are thought to be one of the first domesticated crops, with gourds dating back to 13,000 BCE discovered in archaeological digs in Peru. Gourds have been in common usage throughout history as ceremonial vessels, water dippers, shelter for small animals, toys, musical instruments, and of course food. They are also important in mythology and religion. Gourds are mentioned in some translations of the Old Testament as a tree that shielded one of the prophets, and are associated with Archangel Raphael. Chinese Gods are often depicted with gourds, signaling the gourd’s significance to Chinese medicine as a lantern of longevity.
Gourds are easy to grow as crops, which makes them attractive to agriculturalists and home gardeners alike. Pumpkins account for an estimated 68,000 acres of professional farmland in the United States, with Illinois and California the highest yielding states. For the home, whether the garden is a large space or a patch of dirt, gourds grow easily in most heartiness zones if simple, basic needs for care are met. Plant seeds 1 – 2 inches deep in late spring or early summer, or after frost has passed if that is your zone. Turn the soil with a spade and enrich with fertilizer before planting. As vining plants, gourds will cover the ground once they start fruiting. This is striking, but equally so is a trellis, which gourds will cling to and start to climb if trained once the tendrils are long enough.
During their growing season of late summer through autumn, gourds need direct sunlight and consistently moist soil. Gourds are ready for harvest when the fruit has a thick, hardened skin and color and striation are fully developed. Use fresh gourds for decoration, but reserve the finest specimens to cure and preserve. To cure gourds, place them in a warm, dry, well-ventilated area. Check them frequently to dust off any mold or dirt that accumulates. They are cured when they have dried out; if you hear the seeds rattling when you shake the gourd, it is ready. Preserve gourds with a thin layer of protection wax or varnish. From there, they can last for years as decorative items if stored in a dark, dry location when not on display.
Gourds are very popular for craft projects; click here or here. Gourd craft hit a high point during the seventies due to the Back to Earth movement of the day. During those difficult times, gourds hung as birdhouses amid forests of ferns, rested as vases and ashtrays on tables in earth-toned rooms, resounded as bells among the macramé. As a culture, turbulence draws some of us back to the steady, healing touch of Mother Earth. Gourds, children of dirt and mulch, as ancient as the cultures that first cultivated them, are ambassadors amongst earth’s children. As dippers of cold water, they replenish the harvest season of plenitude giving way to want. As ritual rattlers, they summon spirits in earth-based ceremonies. And, as a background of shades and swirls, they create interest in nature scape from garden wall to tabletop cornucopia while drawing us, tendril to wart, to the colorful world of these wonderful oddballs.
Read Further
Indeed, bizarre organisms rule Halloween. Lichens attach to deadwood and rock strata, signaling the symbiosis between fungus and algae, echoing the interdependent rhythms of bounty and harvest. Mold and mildew merge with, often eventually to consume, their hosts. How fitting during this time of the dwindling harvest that rot displays its odd beauty in powdery silver filaments, slimy green mycelia, blue veins putrefying through yellowing bodies.
Yet not all autumn beauty arises from degeneration. Like those pumpkins, winter squash comes alive during the autumn months, and remains available and viable until summer squashes take over next spring. Winter squash finds its way to table from ravioli to risotto, Thanksgiving pie to seasonal latté. Jack o’Lanterns grin from window and porch, the candlelight within their hollowed chambers recalling ancient welcomes along ancient roads. And some winter squash find themselves scattered across mantles and tumbling from cornucopias, as this is not just the season of pumpkin and butternut, but of gourds.
Gourds are the wacky cousins of the family Cucurbitaceae. The fundamental distinction between squashes is that edible squashes are thin-skinned with interiors of soft flesh and seeds, all consumable (though regarding the skins of most winter squashes, you wouldn’t want to). Squashes referred to colloquially as gourds are thick skinned and most of them are inedible. But what they lack culinarily they make up for in usability, history, variety, and delightful weirdness.
The family of vining plants known scientifically as cucurbits includes approximately 965 species, not just pumpkins and gourds but also cucumbers and melons. Most gourds are recognizable by their distinctive shapes including bumps and warts, colorful markings, common names, and whether or not we can eat them. Gourds are characterized as edible, utilitarian, or ornamental. The field of edible squashes includes the recognizable pumpkin, butternut, acorn, spaghetti, chayote, turban, and zucchini varieties. The field of utilitarian and ornamental gourds is much broader, with descriptive nomenclature such as bottle, snake, sponge, dipper, luffa, wax, pointed, penguin, hedgehog, ivy, daisy, ash, birdhouse, and buffalo.
Gourds are thought to be one of the first domesticated crops, with gourds dating back to 13,000 BCE discovered in archaeological digs in Peru. Gourds have been in common usage throughout history as ceremonial vessels, water dippers, shelter for small animals, toys, musical instruments, and of course food. They are also important in mythology and religion. Gourds are mentioned in some translations of the Old Testament as a tree that shielded one of the prophets, and are associated with Archangel Raphael. Chinese Gods are often depicted with gourds, signaling the gourd’s significance to Chinese medicine as a lantern of longevity.
Gourds are easy to grow as crops, which makes them attractive to agriculturalists and home gardeners alike. Pumpkins account for an estimated 68,000 acres of professional farmland in the United States, with Illinois and California the highest yielding states. For the home, whether the garden is a large space or a patch of dirt, gourds grow easily in most heartiness zones if simple, basic needs for care are met. Plant seeds 1 – 2 inches deep in late spring or early summer, or after frost has passed if that is your zone. Turn the soil with a spade and enrich with fertilizer before planting. As vining plants, gourds will cover the ground once they start fruiting. This is striking, but equally so is a trellis, which gourds will cling to and start to climb if trained once the tendrils are long enough.
During their growing season of late summer through autumn, gourds need direct sunlight and consistently moist soil. Gourds are ready for harvest when the fruit has a thick, hardened skin and color and striation are fully developed. Use fresh gourds for decoration, but reserve the finest specimens to cure and preserve. To cure gourds, place them in a warm, dry, well-ventilated area. Check them frequently to dust off any mold or dirt that accumulates. They are cured when they have dried out; if you hear the seeds rattling when you shake the gourd, it is ready. Preserve gourds with a thin layer of protection wax or varnish. From there, they can last for years as decorative items if stored in a dark, dry location when not on display.
Gourds are very popular for craft projects; click here or here. Gourd craft hit a high point during the seventies due to the Back to Earth movement of the day. During those difficult times, gourds hung as birdhouses amid forests of ferns, rested as vases and ashtrays on tables in earth-toned rooms, resounded as bells among the macramé. As a culture, turbulence draws some of us back to the steady, healing touch of Mother Earth. Gourds, children of dirt and mulch, as ancient as the cultures that first cultivated them, are ambassadors amongst earth’s children. As dippers of cold water, they replenish the harvest season of plenitude giving way to want. As ritual rattlers, they summon spirits in earth-based ceremonies. And, as a background of shades and swirls, they create interest in nature scape from garden wall to tabletop cornucopia while drawing us, tendril to wart, to the colorful world of these wonderful oddballs.
Read Further
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