I would if I could remember to go up there and pick them outta the pines - I think about it in the morning and then when I get home I forget until it is about time to go to bed! LOL, blonde thing I guess^_^
Wacky Gourds and Pumpkins
Well, I am going to the farm stand perhaps tomorrow.. maybe she has something left. They are closing in a couple weeks.. maybe there wil be a bargan!
Meantime, its off to the pumpkin patch here....its raining, but I think I will sneak out and see if any are ripe yet!
Ok, was at the Farm stand... whooooBOY! interesting things she had there, and yano, I just could not walk away empty handed since it was 6'2" and my 21st Anniversary soz....heres what I got him!
Whaddathink?
An anaconda gourd!!! Woweeeewow! BB, what a great gift!
He loved it! It even faked the dog out!
I wonder how it is goung to dry? I hope I can get some seed out of it too later without killing it!
new thread started....
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1049392/
Well, the snake gourd is drying a little.. its starting to get tan blotches....
Have yours started drying? Are you going to paint them?
I have harvested the seed from one that was beginning to rot. Several more have tiny brown spots, but still using them in the arrangements. Did you see the new thread I began on Table Centerpieces? I used a couple of them in that one.
I am not going to paint them, least don't think so, but now that you mention it I do have a lot of paint and won't have much going on after the holiday??? hum, thanks BB for making me contemplate yet another project!
Projects R me! LOL!
Nope, need to go see that thread....
Um you will confirm your conviction to paint them when they finally do get dry.. they will probably more than likely go moldy. Not to worry, that will wash off, but then the color of the gordies will be faded like old glory. Dusty looking faded, but the nature design will still be apparent. It takes several months for them to dry so dont get in a hurry.
The guy at the market says he dont let his touch each other when they are drying.. never did really say why, but perhaps it just helps the air circulate on them better.
I think I left a small bushel of my gourds and forgot about them and they dried ok.
Here is a ninety eight inch snake that was the best in Pennsylvania about five years ago. It takes another foot and more to place today!
I've got a garage full of these too. Same reason. The market got flooded after the boys and girls saw me getting first money for them.
Today I give a few away....that's it.
Jiffy peanut butter jar in it's second life as a cleanout.
Drain holes using dry wall nylon web and epoxy. Finish is outdoor varnish....polyester I think.
Wow docgipe, thats cool! The jar in the gourd thing!
You did a real nice finish job on those Dwaine, very classy work.
If you have not seen them there is a gourd called Apple Gourd. Fixed up with a red stain and finished with a clean out jar lid will do very well for at least one season of selling. You need a mix but that Apple Gourd will easily sell for fifteen bucks but you absolutely need a near professional finish. I charged and got thirty bucks for the Martin
Sized gourds. Planted early the Apple Gourds will produce an average of a dozen nice gourds with thick skins. To be effective I like to display at least four dozen mixed bird houses with another two dozen or more in the van.
For setting those jar shoulders into the gourd I used automotive fender bender polyester. I have had gourds last twenty years in my care....but that includes revarnishing about every six years.
Cool!
I am just unclear as to how the "cleanout jar" works? I understand that is how you clean out the nest from year to year, but how does it work? How does that make the inside of the gourd accessible? and how do you keep it from just falling out?
Me too! I would think you are taking up space in there.
Well, I have always just tossed thoe old gourds since they are so easy to grow and replacements are cheap. But the concept is pretty neat! Recycled jars!
You cut the shoulder off the jar, cut a hole in the gourd and set it in either epoxy or fender bender polyester which is available at any big box store auto department by various product names in various parts of the country It sets and can be sanded down, drilled or painted in five minutes. The timed epoxies are allmost that fast but are harder to sand and work with.
Use smaller plastic jars for smaller gourds.
So, sounds like then you are basically just loading the screw part of the jar onto the gourd then and not the entire jar. Cool!
This gourd was published in Bird and Bloom magazine some years ago with a neat flower design painted on it. I have sold many nicely designed painted Purple Martin size for $49.95 easily. Natural gourds are a whole lot better attractor nesting site than plastic gourds. I never painted them white although some who bought them did.
Needless to say if you want top dollar you must have professional quality product. I keep the mistakes hanging in my back yard and for an occasional give away.......buy two at $49.95 and get this one absolutely free.
A gourd finished out with good outside varnish will easily last forty years if it is maintained every five or six years. A twenty to forty year old aged gourd birdhouse will again attract a fine price even in an estate auction. I like them better when they are old and worn somewhat.
Thanks for the information - they are gorgeous!