There are special gourds you can grow that are hourglass-shaped and make beautiful birdhouses once they are dried and cleaned. What is a gourd, you ask? What a great question! A gourd is a type of winter squash that grows on a vine. Most gourds are not edible, for the fact that they are not bred for flavor but for decorative purposes. You know those cute little squashes you can buy around the Thanksgiving holiday season to add decoration? Those are some examples of gourds.
Birdhouse gourds are the same, but because they are larger and have a long growing season, much like butternuts, they are harder to reach full maturity to cure and store well. The trick is early seeding, the sunniest spot in the garden (south facing for as long as possible growing season), and finding the right variety. This year I am trying two different varieties from True Leaf Market.
The traditional Birdhouse Gourd takes 120-130 days to reach maturity, and the Miniature Gourd takes 90-99 days to reach maturity. I start my seeds inside, off heat, in a sunny window on February 15th. This is normally about 4-6 weeks before Kitsap has our last frost of the year. This year is looking to be a bit different. I will start each seed in its own 4” pot to make sure it has room to grow. If the plants start to look like they are reaching for too much sunlight as they grow, I will grow them under grow lights, but we will just have to wait and see.
Around the 15th of March, I will transplant the squash plants into 1-gallon pots and move them to the outdoor greenhouse. They will be planted in the ground around April 15th with a frost blanket protective covering until the middle of May or the beginning of June, depending on our nighttime temperatures. Once the plant is fully mature, brown and dead looking (September – October), you will cut off your gourds, hang them to dry in a dark, cool, well-ventilated shed/garage for 6+ months.
They will start to brown and mold. Shake now and then to hear the seeds rattling around; this indicates full dryness. There are lots of videos to help guide you while on this journey. You can follow along as I go, too.
Find more Urban Gnomestead @urbangnomestead and at free monthly garden talk April 19 at Ridgeline Brewing in Bremerton. This month’s topic: Strawberries
