Gourds

My favorite question is: can you eat gourds?  I'm sure you could, but you're teeth might not appreciate biting into them.   Gourds are used as decorations for Thanksgiving, fall, and Halloween decorating. I love growing gourds, as you never know what you're going to get. When picking the gourds it's like going on an Easter egg hunt.  Autumn Wing gourds look like alien birds, Crown of Thorn gourds look like Pac Men, and Lunch Lady gourds........, yeah they're big and warty. Drying gourds is a game of chance/luck.  Sometimes gourds dry well and sometimes they don't.  This article has really good info on drying gourds.  Once gourds are dry sometimes they will have mold or they look terrible, this is normal.  As long as the gourd isn't soft it is usable.  I wash my dried gourds in warm water and bleach.  I give each gourd a good scrub, once they are dried I paint each one with primer and than decorate.