Monday, October 24, 2011

an accidental abundance of gourds

gourds
 
gourds
 
freddie apparently likes gourds 

so here i am, with a pile of gourds.  i didn't intend to plant these, you see. this plant was supposed to be a crazy productive zucchini grown from seeds that my coworker saved from his crazy productive zucchini last year.  but, apparently it was some sort of hybrid and got cross-pollinated because this is what we both ended up with this year, instead of a boatload of zucchini. 

so i ask you, gardening friends, what in the world am i supposed to do with all of these gourds?  just put them in a bowl and let them look pretty? i'm gathering that's pretty much all gourds are good for, but i'm open to any and all suggestions.

(alternatively, i could feed them to my dog, because apparently he thinks they look mighty tasty!)

6 comments:

  1. dry them and make a baby rattle?

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  2. those are crazy! they're like franken-gourds. i'd say rattle is your best bet?

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  3. We had a gourd plant volunteer in our yard. Guessing it was from when I tossed an old gourd out for the chickens to have a go at. I think the chickens rejected it, but the squirrels seemed to find it acceptable eats.

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  4. I had the exact thing happen when I planted what was supposed to be butternut squash. I was pretty darn proud of myself when the plants blossomed and started producing what I thought was going to be my best crop of squash ever. Ended up being the best crop of gourds ever. While I was pretty disappointed, kids were thrilled and have them drying in the windowsill, waiting to start a shaker band!

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  5. Wind chime, lamp...

    http://www.gourdlamps.com/

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  6. Just let them sit around looking pretty! These excite me so much. I'm so going to plant gourds next year!

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