That’s For the Birds

Back in THIS POST we showed you some birdhouse gourds that I was growing in the garden.  I usually just plant things that you can eat, but these seeds were given to me at a seed exchange and I thought, “Let’s give this a try.”  Here’s a picture of them still green and growing, vining all over the place and producing oblong, odd-shaped gourds.

Yes, that was back in August 2014.  Well, I eventually harvested the gourds after allowing them to dry on the vine.  They have been sitting on my workbench for two years.  That is a crying shame, isn’t it?  I didn’t give them much thought other than moving them out of the way when a project required the use of the top of my workbench.  Every once in a while, I’d shake them and the seeds inside made sounds like maracas do.  Other than that, I had almost forgotten about them.  Tricia told me that she wanted to just throw them away.  I’m glad she didn’t.  Here are the gourds in the space they’ve occupied for much too long.

After procrastinating for about 2 years, I finally motivated myself to commence making birdhouses from our birdhouse gourds.  I’m not much of a craftsman, but I’m pleased with the final product and wanted to show you how the process went.  First, I drilled out a 1 inch diameter hole in each of the gourds.  The gourd exterior is hard, like wood.

The gourds are chock-full of seeds that look kind of like teeth!  I shook them all out.

Here are all the gourds drilled out sitting on a pile of seeds.

Lots and lots of seeds!

In fact, I saved a bunch of the seeds and stored them.  If anyone would like some Birdhouse Gourd Seeds FOR FREE, let me know and I’ll pass some along to you.  They are fun to grow and watch mature.  I think kids would get a kick out of them.

Next, I drilled three holes in the bottom.  This is important.  If you didn’t, they would fill with water in a rainstorm, drowning the bird family that occupied the birdhouse.  These drains will keep the birds high and dry within the confines of their home. 

Then I drilled holes beneath the entry hole to each birdhouse, added wood glue to the edges, and inserted dowels that I cut.  These will serve as the perch.  I can envision Momma bird standing on the perch while delivering food to her babies inside.

I hung the gourds on the clothesline outside to allow the glue holding the perches to fully dry, but I’m not done yet.

I opened a can of polyurethane and brushed several coats onto the gourds.  I wanted to seal the gourd from the weather since they’ll be outside.  Many people paint their birdhouse gourds.  I see a lot of them hanging around our area painted white.  I opted to just use a clear polyurethane as I think the natural color looks cool.

It was then that I realized that I should probably enlarge the entry holes to accommodate birds with larger girth.  While some of our birds are very small, some are ‘super-sized’ and may not fit into the smaller opening.  I inserted a grinding wheel onto my drill and enlarged all of the openings.

Nice weather arrived and I hung them in a pecan tree in a spot right outside our garage door that Tricia calls, “The Grove.”  Here are all four of them hanging in the shade ready for occupancy:

Here’s one birdhouse up close.

And here is the finished product.

If I was a bird I would promptly move into one of the “Our Maker’s Acres Manufactured Homes.”  It’s by no means a gated community, but the neighborhood is nice enough and there seems to be vacancy and plenty of room to spread out my wings and raise a brood.

Picking Luffa Gourds

There was enough sunlight left in the day to accomplish another task that I've been meaning to do. With everything planted in the garden except for turnips and mustard greens, I needed to get busy planting and finish up the fall/winter planting season. But before I could do that, I needed to make some room.  Two rows need to be weeded prior to hoeing and planting.  I worked up the rows earlier, but then a deluge of rainfall inhibited me from getting in there and planting and in the meantime, Bermuda grass completely conquered the rows.  There's lots of work to be done to get those rows ready again.

There is one row that is ready to be hoed and then planted, pending one task: I need to take down the trellis of luffa gourds that has taken a firm foothold on half of the 24 foot long row.  Here is a picture of it below.  I didn't plant this 'hedge' of luffa - it came up on its own, a volunteer from last year's crop.  I like to reward persistence like this and oftentimes just let the volunteers grow.  In this case, I erected a trellis by putting in T-posts and running some baling twine between the two t-posts at 6 inch increments for the luffa vines to crawl on.

Lush luffas

I could see many luffa gourds amongst the foliage as I moved the leaves and could also see that the weight of the gourds had caused the t-posts to sag inwardly, straining to support the many gourds.

A nice, 2 foot long luffa gourd

My immediate thought was, "Man, what a prolific crop.  I wish these things were edible!" and to be honest with you, they are!  But only when they are very young, like the one I'm holding in my hand below.  Luffas that size can be peeled and eaten.  I found recipes for luffa stir fry and was going to try it.  I put this one in the fridge and it turned black and unappetizing, so I composted it and didn't end up cooking it. Next year I'll do it, I promise!

Edible luffa (if they are this size)

So I began pulling on the vines and cutting off each luffa gourd.  I heard a rustling sound behind me and turned around to see that Daisy, Rosie, Clarabelle and little Luna had spotted me working in the garden and came to beg for something to eat.  I obliged and threw the thick, lush, luffa vines over the fence and the girls made quick work of them!

Meanwhile I stacked up the luffa gourds like cord wood on the row just west of where the luffas were growing.  When I was finished, I counted them up.  Twenty-nine (29) luffa gourds from one luffa plant!  Several more were hidden and dried within the vines, so I think this plant in all produced about 35 gourds!!

Stack 'em deep and sell 'em cheap!

I enlisted Benjamin's help and we loaded up an old molasses tub with the bounty and carried them to the back patio and laid them all out on the table.

My RARESEEDS Catalog says this about them:

(Luffa Aegyptiaca) Burpee's 1888 catalogue said, "A natural dishcloth, and a most admirable one. Many ladies prefer this dishcloth. The fruit grow about 2', and the vine is very ornamental, producing clusters of yellow blossoms, in pleasing contrast with the silvery-shaded, dark green foliage. In the North this variety requires starting in a hotbed. The dried interiors of these gourds have already become an article of commerce; grown in Florida, they are sold by Philadelphia and NY druggists."

I've dried a bunch of these before and used them as bath sponges. They are great for exfoliating and can be used instead of a washrag, but I never thought about using them as a dishcloth in the kitchen. We'll try this as they should be great for scrubbing pots, pans, and plates.

To dry them, first you must remove the outer covering of the luffa to expose the inner sponge and begin the drying process.  Simply peel it off.  It comes off easily with your fingers.  I save all the peelings for the compost pile.

Peeling a luffa to start the drying process

I'll show you the drying process and then the seed saving, the bleaching, and the cutting of the sponge in a future post.  I also have an idea that I'll try in which I'll cut the luffa into two inch thick disks and pour homemade soap into them and let them harden into bath soap/scrubbing sponges.  We'll see how that works out and will post the results.  Stay tuned.

Trying a New Crop Again after 15 Years

About 15 years ago in one of those entrepreneurial dreams that I get from time to time, I imagined a huge money-maker - a pumpkin patch.  Why, people would come from far and wide, browse through our wide selection of huge pumpkins and fill their trunks with the big, fat, orange pumpkins that we grew.  Of course they would pay a handsome price for these lovely pumpkins and our cigar box would quickly fill with dead presidents.

Dad and I used a levee plow to pull up a long hill in a strategically placed area. Right south of the family cemetery whose live oak tree's sprawling limbs shaded graves dating back to the 1800's, including Civil War soldiers, was the spot.  It was a perfect spot for pumpkins.  You see, long rows of round bales were stacked there the previous year.  The hay was long since gone, but the very bottom of where the round bales were was a prime planting medium.  The hay rotted, leaving dark, moist composted hay and soil, boiling with earthworms.

We deposited our pumpkin seeds in the row and timely rains and great soil grew beautiful pumpkin plants, lush and green, promising a bumper crop of pumpkins later and prolific pumpkin profits. Except...

Except the cows had other intentions for our pumpkins.  They got into our pumpkin patch and devoured every plant.  Discouraged? You bet, but C'est la Vie.  You keep going and you try again later.  This time 15 years later.  In order to have pumpkins for late October, you need to plant around the Fourth of July, so I got busy.  Using a shovel, I turned over the soil on the row where our sweet corn grew just weeks ago. There were worms aplenty - a good sign.

The pumpkin row

I sprinkled a #10 can of organic fertilizer made from composted chicken litter on the row and worked it in with my hoe.  It packs a pungent aroma, but it does the trick.  The plants seem to love it and they jump out of the ground.

Organic fertilizer

I'm planting three varieties this year.  I always grow strange stuff and this year is no different.  I'm planting Jarrahdale Pumpkin.  It comes from Australia and is a beautiful slate or blue-grey color. Its flesh is orange, soft, with melon-like aroma and a very sweet taste.  I can't wait for this one.

Jarrahdale Pumpkin

The next variety I'm trying is the New England Sugar Pie.  Doesn't that sound good?  Like the Jarrahdale, it is an heirloom, but as the name suggests, it is from New England and is noted for its fine, sweet flavor, with creamy, stringless flesh that is perfect for pies.  Mmmmm...  Pumpkin pie!

New England Sugar Pie Pumpkins

Finally, the Jack Be Little pumpkins.  You've seen these.  They fit in the palm of your hand and most people use them for decorating or as a table centerpiece. However, you can eat them, too.  I saw a recipe for Candied Jack Be Littles that looks good.

Jack Be Little Pumpkins

So after my soil was ready, I poured the Jarrahdale pumpkin seeds in my hand. They were fat and thicker than normal pumpkin seeds.  Also, they had a slight bluish-gray tinge to them.

Seeds of Change

The just-opened soil, like a welcome mat, accepted the seed.  Even an earthworm came to extend greetings to this visitor to his world.  I quickly covered the seeds up.

The Sower went out to Sow

The New England Sugar Pie Pumpkin Seeds just looked like normal pumpkin seeds. I like eating roasted pumpkin seeds and I made a mental note to not only save seeds from our crop this year for later use, but to roast some.  But there I go, counting my chickens before they hatch.

Pumpkin Seeds

Which reminds me - I need to double check the gates to ensure that our cows don't meander over to our pumpkin patch.  Ha!  We'll keep you posted on our successes and failures.

A Large Load of Loofahs

After the first freeze burned back all the non-winter crops in the garden, we quickly picked all the edible produce to bring inside and eat, process, or freeze.  All except for one crop - our loofah gourds. I had forgotten about them.  They grow like kudzu and their vines took over the back half of the garden, threatening to take over the okra plants all summer like tentacles of an octopus that I constantly had to pull off and reposition.

The freeze had burned back all the leaves of the loofah and the leaves and vines which held them were brown and dying, but there were lots of loofahs still on the vines.  I normally leave them on the vines until the skin feels like a football - leathery and kind of loose.  Then I peel the skin off, exposing the sponge-like thing inside.  These were a little under-ripe, but I picked them off the vine and piled them up against the fence rather than let them sit out in the weather and risk decomposing. It is amazing to think that all these came off of one plant.  Even more amazing to think that each of the gourds contain hundreds of seeds.

Gobs of Gourds

I brought them inside and stacked them in a pile near my workbench.  Benjamin said they looked like snakes.  I wanted them to dry for a few days before trying to peel them.

The pile of soon to be scrubbing sponges

A few days later I pulled a bench outside on a perfect bluebird day and commenced peeling them. All the loofah gourd skins will be put back into the garden soil.  Most of the loofahs were pretty easy to peel.  Some were not ripe and were heavy and not fully formed. Those went into the compost pile.  The bad thing about those were they stained my hands green.  A stain that took a lot of scrubbing to get off.

For the compost pile

Once I had them all peeled, I set them on the air conditioning units to dry.  I'll flip them over until they are completely dried on all sides.

Drying the loofahs

When all was said and done, I had 46 loofahs peeled and drying on top of the a/c units and that doesn't count all of them that I've already harvested and processed. This was a bumper crop of loofahs.  Once they are completely dried, I'll bring them in, shake out all the seeds and soak them in a little bleach-water solution to clean them up.  Then they'll be ready for use for weekly Saturday night bath time.  I kid, I kid...

Hanging out to dry

I've been using one as a bath sponge for over a month now and it is as good as new. If we ever get around to making homemade soap, these loofahs would compliment them perfectly. 

As Green as a Gourd

I've heard the idiom, "As Green as a Gourd" many times growing up.  It is always used to describe something that is not ripe or not ready for use.  It just so happens in this case the saying is literal.  My gourds are green, unripe and not ready for use. Somehow I acquired a small packet of birdhouse gourd seeds. Now that I think about it, I think it was at a seed swap at a sustainable agriculture conference I attended.

In the very last row of the garden, I planted a few seeds thinking that it might be neat to grow some birdhouse gourds, dry them and make birdhouses to hang from the trees.  I'm normally all about growing things that are edible, but I made an exception!  I built a crude trellis for the vines to grow on and looking back, I can now see that I highly underestimated the vigor with which birdhouse gourd vines grow. The vines promptly weighed down the trellis and collapsed it and now I'm doing everything I can do to keep it from using the okra plants as a trellis.  It has started to grow on the perimeter fence and the cows and goats don't even eat the vine.

It's like a jungle!

They do make beautiful flowers, though, that open in the morning sun and brighten the back side of the garden.  My yellow squash and zucchini squash have been attacked by some green worms that have really put a dent in our squash harvest, but the worms have left the gourd foliage alone.  Wow, the plant doesn't seem to have predators.

Yellow blooms of the birdhouse gourd

Now underneath the collapsed trellis, you can get a look at one of the actual 'birdhouses.'  There are several in that jungle along with one that has rotted on the ground.  I will try to get out there tomorrow after church and see what I can do to lift these off the ground so that they don't rot.  We have had a lot of rain, so they are in danger of rotting, if I delay doing anything about it.

One of the 'birdhouses'

According to what I've read, you are to leave them growing until the vine turns brown.  Then you hang them and allow them to dry.  Once you can shake the gourd and hear all the seeds shaking inside, you can drill a hole in it and make your birdhouse.  The vines are very far from turning brown and in fact are the healthiest thing in my garden right now.  

Next year, I'll be better prepared and will build a sturdier trellis, but for now I'll try to do something to salvage the green gourds I have.  If I'm successful, it will be a neat project to try my hand at making some birdhouses out of them.  As you can see they have some interesting shapes.  Right now I'll wait as my gourds are still green (as a gourd).