How to Dry Gourds
Dried gourds make perfect decorations for your fall table, or you can use them to make birdhouses or decorative dippers and bowls. Gourds have a variety of uses. Here are a few do it yourself tips on how to dry a gourd.
- Difficulty:
- Moderately Easy
Instructions
Things You'll Need
- Flat Hobby Paintbrushes
- Paste Wax
- Gourds
- Liquid Bleach
- Varnish
- Kitchen Strings
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1
Harvest ripe gourds at the end of the growing season after the stem has turned brown.
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2
Keep a few inches of the stem attached to the gourd when harvesting.
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3
Remove excess soil from gourd.
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4
Attach a rubber band or string to the stem.
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5
Hang the gourd in a dark, well-ventilated area such as a garage or basement.
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6
Remove mold as it forms on the skin of the gourd with a 10 percent solution of bleach.
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7
Tap the gourd with your hand every month or so. When it is dry to the touch and has a hollow sound, it is ready to use.
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1
Tips & Warnings
Paint dry gourds with varnish or coat with a layer of paste wax to preserve the finish.
Gourds will dry in 2 to 4 months, depending on the amount of heat and ventilation available in the drying area.
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Comments
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Once preserved, how long can I keep them?
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Yoy are precious, Logan.
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Going to try this with a bunch of wild gourds I just picked, there not quite mature, but hopefully it works! A good solution of bleach and water to mix is; 2 & 1/4 of water for every 1/4 cup of bleach. :)
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I'll have to try this! This looks like fun.
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I live in Wisconsin and had a bumper crop of gourds last year. They sat out all winter, right on the vine, and on the ground, and out of 58 gourds, only 3 were no good, and mice/critters nibbled holes in 2 others. The rest are perfect! Verdict, the less you do, the better. These things sat under mounds of snow all winter, and even survived the wet spring too. Besides, I read that the mold spores are unsafe to breathe if you bring them in the house, plus, they stink really bad while they are drying. BTW, All of them come in after curing all winter kind of peely and moldy, but wash up really nice!
