Gourds Gone Wild

Remember these? From back in late May?

And then they grew into this in mid June?

And then in mid July, they were off and running?

Well, it's all over now. The vines have died down and dried up, and all that's left is gourds. These are birdhouse gourds. About half are dried, and the other half are on their way.

Once dried, these make great bowls, bottles, maracas, and, of course, birdhouses. Easyto grow, drought tolerant to a degree, and they have huge green leaves that smell like baking bread.

My personal favorites are the bushel gourds (get up to 3 feet in diameter -we make permanent jack o' lanterns out of ours) and dipper gourds (long extended necks that can be trained to wrap themselves in spirals).

Couldn't find seeds for either this year, so we grew the old-fashioned favorite: : birdhouse gourds.