IT WILL TAKE A WHILE TO LOAD, BUT ONCE THE PICTURES ARE LOADED, SCROLL DOWN SLOWLY AND ENJOY:
Living in hawaii, gourds were ipus, uli-uli, drums, helmets, head dresses, and feathered ornamentals to hang on car rear view mirrors.
 This is an Ipu I made.

When i moved to Georgia, I found that gourds could be painted for seasonal decor and i started craft classes to learn to paint gourds.

 THEY MAKE WONDERFUL BIRDHOUSES TOO!

AND BIRD FEEDERS, BUSINESS CARD HOLDERS, AND DECORATIVE ITEMS.

AND A SASSY KITTY CAT - OOOHHHH SHE TOO CUTE

THEY EVEN MADE CENTERPIECES FOR KAYA'S 1ST BIRTHDAY.

 I AM PROUD OF THIS HONU

THE SEA HORSE

PRODUCTION LINE

GOURDS COME IN ALL DIFFERENT SHAPES AND SIZES AND HAVE BEEN USED THROUGHOUT THE WORLD FOR A LIFETIME FOR VARIOUS REASONS. IT IS A GREAT WORK OF ART ENJOYED BY MANY FINE ARTISTS.

 GOURD ARTISTS PAY BIG MONEY IN SEARCH OF THE PERFECT GOURD.
$56.00 WAS MY RECORD HIGH ON EBAY. OTHERS HAVE GONE FOR AS MUCH AS $32.00 EACH. AFTER GOING TO THE GOURD FARMS AND CLEANING THE GOURDS, SOMETIMES MY APT/HOUSE LOOKS LIKE THIS

ON LISTING DAY, IT LOOKS LIKE THIS

AND THIS

AND ON PACKING DAYS IT LOOKS LIKE THIS, AND YOU THOUGHT BOOKS WERE BAD.

When cutting the gourds open, i found they contained hundreds of seeds, AND *THOUGHT* OH, lets try planting them, i would like to do that more than anything, gourds are so hard to find, and you have to go so far to get them. And so the real story begins.

DOING QUITE WELL

MANY FLOWERS, HEALTHY LEAVES - WHERE'S THE FRUIT?????, OH, THE BOOK SAYS NIGHT BLOOMING FLOWERS, THERE ARE NO BEES AT NIGHT, FOR A GOOD CROP, YOU HAVE TO HAND POLLINATE. OK, EVERY DAY AFTER WORK, MOSQUITOS AND KNATS BITING ME, UNTIL DARK I WAS IN THE GARDEN, POLLINATE???? HUMMM, LOCATE THE MALES AND THE FEMALES, RUB THEM TOGETHER??? BRUSH THE POLLEN FROM THE MALE WITH A PAINT BRUSH, PUT IT IN THE FEMALE???? THEY DIED, OHHHH GET THE MALE FLOWER, TAKE OFF THE PETALS AND DUST THE PETALS OVER THE FEMALE FLOWER.

 FINALLY!!!!! GOURDS IN MY GARDEN

SNOWMAN SHAPED ONES TOO

OOPS, THEY JUMPED THE STRING LINE AND ARE GROWING ON THE NEIGHBORS FENCE. OH WELL, MAYBE SOME SEEDS WILL DROP IN THERE AND THEY CAN HAVE GOURDS TOO!!!

THEY'RE EVERYWHERE, THEY'RE EVERYWHERE!!!!

ON SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2002, AFTER 100 DAYS OF A GROWING SEASON, I HARVESTED THE GOURDS EXCEPT FOR A FEW LATE BLOOMERS THAT SOMEHOW GOT POLLINATED WITHOUT MY HELP.

 IT WAS QUITE AN EXPERIENCE AND FUN AND EXCITING TO WATCH THEM GROW, BUT A LOT OF HARDWORK FOR SUCH A SMALL CROP. I HAVE NOT COUNTED THEM, I KNOW THERE ARE ABOUT 7 LEFT IN THE GARDEN, I CAME ACROSS A DOZEN OR SO WHILE HARVESTING THAT JUST ROT WHILE GROWING, AND IF SOME OF THESE DON'T DRY WELL, THEY WILL ROT TOO. ALL OF THEM HAVE TO LOOK LIKE THE DARK ONES, THAT IS PART OF THE PROCESS AND I HAVE TO TURN THEM OFTEN SO THEY DRY EVENLY AND THE SEEDS INSIDE DO NOT STICK TO ONE SIDE AND ROT THROUGH.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
BROTHER JAY for your love, knowledge, time and energy devoted to preparing the garden site by tilling the soil, applying fertilizer and nutrients, burning the leaves for potash, staking and stringing the garden boundaries and for installing a sprinkler system.
SISTER DAWN CHERE for your assistance in staking and stringing the garden boundaries.
RODNEY PHILLIPS for testing the soil, recommending remedies, sharing information about Jerry Baker's books and all around encouragement.
PAT BLATT, KIM ANDERSON & BETTY PHILLIPS for tending to the garden during my extended absences.
I hope you have all enjoyed this.
 gg

All images & graphics © 2002 OH MY GOURDS! All Rights Reserved.