Great Gourds

Food and wine vessels, musical instruments, hats: the ubiquitous, humble Lagenaria, cousin of cucumber, is surely an unsung cucurbit.

Anthropologists speculate that 10,000 years ago, post-Pleistocene folk used wild gourds to keep fishing nets afloat; gourds can float for 347 days and the seeds remain viable! Grow the birdhouse type (long neck, round bottom), also used by the Incas and Aztecs to make musical instruments. Make an entrance hole, dry, decorate, and hang outside for the birds.

• How to,
• vegetables,
• gourds,
• craft,
• bird feeder,
• Plants,