How to Preserve Gourds and Display Them, Too
Autumn gourds mimic the vibrant hues of New England’s fall foliage. Learn how to preserve gourds, and how to display them too!
By Shelley Wigglesworth|Oct 19 2022|
Coffee By Design | Portland, Maine
Photo Credit : Katherine KeenanEver wondered how to preserve gourds? Displaying colorful gourds that mimic the hues of New England’s fall foliage is a festive way to celebrate the season. By preserving gourds, you can use them in your autumn decor for years to come. Miniature gourds look great displayed clustered in a basket or lined up on a coffee table or mantel. I also like to group a variety of tiny gourds with bittersweet and medium-sized warty and ghost pumpkins on the dining room table as a centerpiece arrangement that will last throughout the fall.
Read on for more ideas on how to display autumn gourds, plus learn how to preserve gourds for future seasonal displays.
Photo Credit : Pixabay
How to Preserve Gourds | Instructions
Preserving gourds takes a little patience, but is well worth the wait. To start, harvest miniature gourds when they are mature and not any sooner. If gourds are harvested before they are done growing they are more susceptible to rot. A good indicator that a gourd is ready to pick is when the stem is dry and turning brown.
Cut the gourds from the vine leaving at least 2” of stem. The stem will aid in wicking the moisture from the gourds.
Gently wash the gourds in a mild soapy dish detergent and rinse thoroughly.
Wipe the gourds dry and spray lightly with a household disinfectant or mist with rubbing alcohol.
Space the prepared gourds on a few layers of newspaper in a dark, warm, dry area (such as an attic) with good ventilation. Replace the damp newspaper every few days, turning the gourds when you do. Heat accelerates drying and darkness will preserve the gourd’s color. You can also place the gourds under a fan to speed up the drying process. Repeat these steps for the next several weeks until the gourds are noticeably lighter and you are able to hear the seeds rattling inside them when you pick them up.
When the gourds are completely dry, use a paste wax or clear shellac to seal and protect.
How to Display Gourds
Create a gourd birdhouse.
Follow the drying instructions above. Puncture a hole in the dry gourd and use a pumpkin cutter to saw out an opening about the size of a golf ball. Twist the wire around the stem to hang. A wooden dowel may also be inserted under the hole as a perch. Simply puncture a hole directly underneath the cut opening and work the dowel in gently.
Photo Credit : Shelley Wigglesworth
Display flowers in gourds and pumpkins.
Mums and Kale look great when placed inside a pumpkin that has been hollowed out to fit the dimensions of the plant pot.
Create Thanksgiving place settings.
Follow the gourd drying and preserving directions above. Slice a small slit in the top of the gourd and slide a handmade cardboard place setting in the opening.
Do you have any new or creative ideas for how to preserve gourds? Let us know!
This post was first published in 2012 and has been updated.
SEE MORE:
Make a Pumpkin Planter | Pumpkin Crafts
Best Fall Porch Plants
5 Winter Squash Winners | How to Identify, Prepare, Store, and Serve Winter Squash
Fall Decorating Ideas | 10 Simple Ways to Add Garden Style
I am amazed every year of what mother nature gives us in the fall. What wonderful decorations she leaves for us to make, such beautiful arrangements. Even more wonder is the fact is doesn’t cost us much, if anything.
can hollowed out painted gourds last in storage in the attic
Very useful article, particularly preserving gourds
my gourd looks like a goose and it’s large. So different and I love it.
Mostly dry now. Going to shellac it right off.
Hi everyone,
In selecting seeds for our yard this season, ..among many, was a packet of Birdhouse gourd seeds.
Having no experience with these seeds, I decided to start some in our sprouter, situated by our kitchen sink… every seed in our sprouter, sprouted!!!! ☺️ (the whole packet, eventually)
I was thrilled. I then very carefully planted a few at a time, in our side-yard, following the packet directions. I went through the process
of carefully planting, watering, caring for… many many times! But, I must’ve been doing something wrong. ???? None..! of these gourd seedlings made it. I tried several times, and amended the soil, etc. No success.. ???? ..!..
I usually have success starting plants from seed, but not this time. . . .. frustrated, I took what small sprouts remained in the sprouter, and put them in to our compost pile.
Time passed. .. A vine that I didn’t recognize, showed up in the center of our compost pile.
I had no idea what it was… since we eat lots of different vegetables. ¿Do I pull it out, or just wait to See what it is?! It grew and grew.. and began to form these *beautiful* white flowers, then a shape (butternut squash??) appeared! In my researching the white flower, *I found that our compost pile was the home to Birdhouse gourds vines, flowers, and the beginnings of many gourds taking shape!* *I was so thrilled!!!*
I began to create a homemade trellis for them. Now, there are numerous gourds on the way, which I plan to share with my neighbors, and there are *three large gourds* almost ready to
be harvested.. and, at some point in the future,
to become birdhouses!!!! *•.Yeah!!!•* ~Amélie
i read to wash gourdes in 1 tbls bleach and 1 gallon water, they look like they are rotting. please advise
First time with birdhouse gourds, probably 100. Saved only the nicest.
Started drying in the garage but then had a 4 degree below cold snap so I moved them to the basement & put them on my racks where I start my garden plants. They have been under my fluorescent lights with dehumidifier. Drying nicely & starting to rattle. A lot of them have a mosaic pattern I’m going to try & gold leaf the edges on. Wish me luck! It’s been good so far.