hebrew Posted December 10, 2007 (edited) hello i am looking for a gourd or a few, that are not too large, kinda about the size of a tennis ball maybe a little larger and one that is pretty much perfectly round. i know it is kinda picky but that is what i am after i really want to demonstrate to some children how rattles are made, if anyone can help me out with that please reply here or pm me thank you for your time alternatively a stainless steel ball that is hollow could also be good if you have one laying around i could put it to good use. Edited December 10, 2007 by hebrew Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ENtiTY Posted December 11, 2007 Heya Heb, There is a place really close to where I live that has them by the tonne, literaly. Will be out there this week and can pick you up a couple if you like. I know there are some there the size and shape you want as I went through a pile of em trying to find ones the same size ony with flatish bottoms to use as Yerba Mate gourds. Cost a buck 75 each if I remember. Let me know if your interested Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vertmorpheus Posted December 11, 2007 Just watch what kind of gourds you get for what purpose or age group... some species are not fit for food or drink purposes as they secrete a godawful tasting mildly toxic chemical, some people get around it for a while by soaking in superhot waxes etc, but I find it always comes thru eventually (I think in african gourd corn beer they kinda rely on that for some bitterness).and using the bitter ones for rattles for lil kids can be a bit iffy unless you can be entirely certain noone is going to try chewing on it. I saw a dog get stuck into one once (thinking it was just any old bit of wood that smelt of people) and he just spewed and spewed and spewed til he nearly turned inside out. VM Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hebrew Posted December 11, 2007 thansk guys yeah harry if you dont mind having a look that would be great. i only want to make rattles, but that is interesting to know VM i never knew that. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vertmorpheus Posted December 11, 2007 Yeah its come up a few times talkin with other ppl, not very widely known... gods know how many hippies end up toxing up their kids with their new "instruments"! Theres also something in some gourds thats either an insulin analog or regulates your own supply, something like that...vague on details. Some Indian people chuck baby ones in stews too, and apparently dont end up diabetic as often as their neighbours that dont, or something. I just use mine as slow drip waterers, ornaments, and the vines on the ground as "living mulch" for starting more tender things under em... cleaning out dry cured ones is oddly satisfying despite your hands tasting like crap for the next two or three days. I do have some seeds somewhere... moving, yay.... VM Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hebrew Posted December 11, 2007 yeahi got seeds as well i shoudl really plant them Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vertmorpheus Posted December 11, 2007 Up my way some ppl tend to fire up a few seeds under some mesh etc around feb, march.... makes a nice living curtain to keep nosey neighbours out of your favourite vegetables. Good for greywater/biocycle/damp patches too. I once had crystal apple cucs cross with a funny lookin gourd and what came out was basically those west indian pickling gherkin things... a few inches long, fat, spiky, kind of sweet-sour by nature... never saved seed from em , silly me. VM Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hebrew Posted December 11, 2007 (edited) ahh right, cool so i got time to get some space ready for the seeds then, awesome i will haev to grow some this coming year then. yeah i like to keep nosy neighbours away actually i wish ihad mreo trees for that reason. but some gourds would be good then. there is this place up the road from me that grew them last year they do make a good screen hey. so is there any special thing you need to do to cure them? like from the vine what do you do? Edited December 11, 2007 by hebrew Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
XipeTotec Posted December 11, 2007 (edited) so is there any special thing you need to do to cure them? like from the vine what do you do? by cure... do u mean the drying process? if so, in relation to the vine/pumpkin type gourd, I have heard that just leaving them on the vine is best. I dont have the room to do so... so I just pick mine off and sit to dry. doesnt really matter if they get wet or anything. Edited December 11, 2007 by XipeTotec Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hebrew Posted December 11, 2007 cool. i look forward to growing some next year then. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ENtiTY Posted December 11, 2007 It seems that the Calabash Gourd is the traditonal one used for Yerba Mate, at least thats what lil research I just did revealed. Apparently its used as a vegetable when young so that would have to make it one of the non-toxic varieties yeah? I see if I can get some at this place I know of when I visit. Thanx for the heads up Vert . Lucky I was a lil slack about getting around to turning the gourds I have (ornamental kind) into cups eh. Prolly be spewing myself inside out like otherwise by now. Should of researched it first . Figured a gourd was a gourd, another example of an assumption made without even realising it. Gourds ain't gourds... gotcha. Feel like a fucking lemming now . Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vertmorpheus Posted December 11, 2007 I wouldnt worry bout it Harry, I felt like a lemming awhile ago but yknow once I caught some of the little fuckers, skiined, deboned and marinated them... well it just wasnt as tasty as I anticipated anyway. (note...get the ones that have already jumped, they're pretenderised!). For curing em, I snip the gourd at whatever size i want it (they tend to peter out and stay one size, eventually), cut it with a few inches of stalk hanging on, and chuck in up on the roof of the chook shed haha... leaving dried or drying ones in contact with the ground can results in mildews, ants etc, so I tend to do with those what I do with other curbits and stack a bunch of clean dry sticks and straw to make little "bunk beds" for ground level fruits. Turning em a few degrees a day can help prevent soft spots later. Oncethey're dry as bullshit, pop em open use a coathanger thingy to get the seeds and the fluff out...then some people heat em in beeswax and polish, or timber polish, or vegetable oil.. paint em, sand em, drill em, whatever. It's just like tupperware but more like Jungleware haha. As for the eating young or using old thing... not sure really... i know they dont taste too bitter at all when really really small (like zuchini size) but that certainly develops well as they get bigger and bolder... thinkin it might be to stop anything eating the seeds, just gives em enough time to drag the seeds out of the husk or whatever. I plant em anytime its warm but not bullshit hot, 3 to 5 to a mound with a moat around it (fill the ring outside with water, makes life easier and u can grow lil things in there as well) then thin out to the best couple of plants. VM Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hebrew Posted December 11, 2007 thank you VM good info there Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ferret Posted December 12, 2007 hey hebs ive got a shitload of rattle gourd seedlings from xipe and some random gourds from eden seeds i think. got to move house in a month or so, so you should come by and pick some up brus! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vertmorpheus Posted December 12, 2007 quick hijack... has anyone else noticed that Eden Seed Co product is getting consistently worse in terms of germ rate, vigour and "true to type" growth? I've gone thru at least a dozen packs of seed in the last 6 months with zero to 1 percent germ rates, and its not the cultural tech or the medium or any of that as every other seed source performs as per usual. VM Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hebrew Posted December 12, 2007 shit man you gotta move house again what about all your cactus? if i can get over there i will drop past i havetn got a car at the moment but i am looking after one after chrsitmas so if you your still there i will pop over and hang out man that would be good Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bio Posted February 5, 2009 http://www.thegourdfather.com/seedsgourds.htm i'm looking for a bottle gourd, like the ones from those old early jackie chan drunken master kung fu films .... the old master always had a gourd full of some kind of wine ... and I'd love to grow those. anyone grow those here?? otherwise i'll go with the above site ... he's in Maitland AUS. cheers Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gunter Posted February 5, 2009 I grow them and have seed for small and large versions. I am in the states. PM me if you think this could work. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Freaky Chicken Posted February 12, 2009 I have some small round gourds with smooth skin seeds I can post to you if your still looking. If anyone else wants any I have the following hand pollinated (true to type) shapes. smooth or warty small pear, round, oval and spoon large swan double lobed birdhouse crown of thorns PM me if interested Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
