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By TC Conner (tcfromky)
This will be my twenty-first winter here in Pennsylvania. You'd think that after all these years I'd be used to them by now. But with each passing year my aging body loses a little more of its ablility to insulate. During winters, my body is like a creaky old house that's so drafty you can fly a kite inside. Old Man Winter finds a way to chill my bones no matter what I do to try and keep him out. A big and bulky goose down winter coat helps when I'm outside, but wearing it in the house would be silly. Winter--a necessary season for plants that need a cold dormant period, an unnecessary one for humans that don't. 
I'm waiting for two types of gourds to dry: swan neck and penguin.
This isn't the first time I've tried my hand at crafting with gourds. The first experience was inspired by Dave's Garden member, Roadrunner ("Jo") several years ago. She posted a picture of one of her gourd crafting projects and I thought what a neat thing to do with a garden plant, besides eat it or put it in a bouquet. That first year I grew basket gourds and bottle gourds, but didn't craft much with either of them. I made a "cottage" If you're interested in crafting with gourds, there's a tremendous amount of info available with just a click of your mouse. And don't forget about books. I used Mickey Baskett's "Glorious Gourd Decorating" (Sterling Publishing Company) book to help me make the cottage birdhouse and the apples. Check out DG's book resource page for more titles on decorating and crafting with gourds. Most books provide pictures of various gourds that you can grow for crafting and some will include patterns for you to use as well (Baskett's book has detailed patterns and instructions).
After waiting for the gourds to dry, and then cleaning them, which is probably the hardest thing you'll have to do, the fun really starts with designing and crafting your gourd into a work of art. There's not much I need to tell you about the waiting part, but be advised that cleaning usually takes some effort. Baskett says in his book that "Cleaning gourds is messy, but not difficult." I guess his definition of difficult may be different from mine because I found the cleaning part to be a rather arduous chore.
When spring rolls around and it looks like your gourds are dry and ready to be cleaned, you have the option of postponing that task until you're caught up with gardening chores. Once dry, gourds can be stored indefinitely as long as they don't get wet. One thing to watch for during the drying process is rotting. If your gourds aren't getting proper air flow around them they may rot. When this happens, toss the gourd in the compost pile, it's no good. You'll know when a gourd is rotting by look and feel, watch for areas that appear to be sinking inward, the area will feel very soft and spongy.
I'm still learning new things about crafting with gourds. Next year I'll plant my gourds a little earlier and I'll leave them on the vine until after the first hard frost. And maybe even longer than that. While researching this article, I discovered that freezing weather will not hurt mature gourds. I cut mine shortly after the first frost and some weren't mature. I'm sure that's why a few of mine are showing signs of rotting. But that's okay, if I didn't learn as I went along, I'd keep making the same mistakes over and over.
More information pertaining to crafting with gourds can be found by visiting the following Web sites: Purdue University Consumer Horticulture
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I'm waiting. Waiting for my 
Both grew exceptionally well in my zone 5 garden. As a matter of fact, their vines practically smothered a 25- by 25-foot section of the garden! My decision to grow these two particular varieties was based partly on what I saw at a local arts and crafts fair this past summer. Two booths featured decorative gourds that were quite stunning. One crafter 
birdhouse and a couple of simple birdhouses and that was about it. The second year it was 
and I was very pleased with the "apples" I made from them. Gourds were absent from the garden for a year or two until this past season. I decided to grow penguin gourds after seeing what you can make using them. 
First, you have to scrub the moldy skin off that forms during the drying process, then there's more cleaning and scrubbing after that. Baskett recommends soaking your gourd for 10 minutes; however, he neglects to mention that gourds float and unless you have a method of spinnning, or submerging your gourds in the water, soaking doesn't do much good. I used a heavy piece of lumber to hold my gourds underwater while they soaked in a large plastic tub. Eventually, I was rewarded with mostly clean gourds that I was able to use for my projects. 
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