The Birdhouse Gourd Arbor

Our wood chip pile at the south end of the garden has been invaded!  Heirloom Louisiana Ribbon Sugar cane grows in there, but so does luffa gourds, watermelon, cantaloupe, Tahitian Melon Squash, butternut squash, and lastly, birdhouse gourds.  The birdhouse gourd vines are prolific - almost like kudzu.  They grow everywhere and at night, their white blooms decorate the wood chip pile.

This year I decided to make an arbor or a trellis with an old piece of reinforcement fencing that I normally use for a cucumber trellis.  Except this time I made it into an arch in order to make a tunnel of sorts to walk through.  We have a pathway down the eastern side of the garden that opens to a gate leading to the barn.  Each day we walk this path several times.  

The tendrils of the birdhouse gourds grasp anything in their way, clinging tightly.  The tendrils have "springs" that allow it to flex as the winds blow.

The big leaves of the vine are growing and as the vines stretch out, they will eventually shade out the area.  I like that idea.  Tricia is a little concerned that snakes might lurk in the birdhouse gourd arbor and fall down on her as she passes beneath it.  That would not be good.  I would never hear the end of it.

The birdhouse gourd gets its name because, once dried, you can drill a hole and make a nice birdhouse.  We made several of these in prior years.  Unfortunately, the birds were slow on the take and wasps found that they were perfect places in which to build nests.  We will try again this year.  Tricia has painted some of them different colors and hangs them from tree branches like ornaments.  They are full of seeds and when shaken, they can be a musical instrument.  Finally you can cut them in half and make a dipper for getting water to drink out of a bucket.

As the trellis fills out with leaves and the gourd crop comes in, we'll update you on the progress.