[Active/Hugel] Barrel #3 (Birdhouse Gourd!) (May 26, 2021)

[ERR0R1755]

I ended up putting U-shaped stakes along the vine to (loosely) hold it in place. It fared better in the next storm and some of the gourds are getting bigger!

[Sher]

What a great idea! The gourds look like little balloons.

[Shawn]

I agree with @shor01.  Great idea and they do look like balloons or even bulbs

[ERR0R1755]

I'm hoping these will mature before frost hits:

[ERR0R1755]

It also looks like the basil is coming in in the barrel, although it has been very slow to grow:

[Shawn]

If it works and grows

[ERR0R1755]

Looks like I'll be able to harvest a gourd soon! There's a few more growing as well, but none as big as this one:

[Sher]

It is big! Looking forward to seeing what you do with it.

[Shawn]

This is a nice size.  I am so happy you were able to get it to grow

[ERR0R1755]

It's hard to get a good picture of these at the moment, but it looks like I'll be able to harvest three gourds this year.
The basil has all been harvested and used to make pesto - none of the plants got very big (4 inches tall at most)

[Sher]

The gourd looks great!

[Shawn]

It is exciting to see the gourd .  YAY.

How was your pesto with the home grown basil.

[ERR0R1755]

Sept 30, 2021 4:27:40 GMT -5 Shawn said:

It is exciting to see the gourd .  YAY.

How was your pesto with the home grown basil.

The pesto turned out well! I tried it on some pasta, but it has too strong of a basil flavor for me. I might try it on some type of flatbread with cheese.

[campingcorgis]

Sept 30, 2021 8:04:56 GMT -5 ERR0R1755 said:

Sept 30, 2021 4:27:40 GMT -5 Shawn said:

It is exciting to see the gourd .  YAY.

How was your pesto with the home grown basil.

The pesto turned out well! I tried it on some pasta, but it has too strong of a basil flavor for me. I might try it on some type of flatbread with cheese.

I make a grilled Havarti cheese sandwich using just a bare smear of pesto on the bread.  I like to use sour dough bread and just quickly brown it in a skillet and then let it really melt in the oven.  It is wonderful...even better with some fresh tomato soup!  I got the idea from an old recipe that calls for making croutons this way.  

[Shawn]

While I love basil, I am not a fan of pesto.  I have made several varieties of Pesto for Mark and he loved them all.  I just can't eat it, UNLESS it is a pesto spread on a sandwich (that I purchase out).

[ERR0R1755]

The season is over, but the project is not! I harvested three gourds, so now they will enter a curing period as they dry out, which may take up to six months to finish.
There was a fourth gourd that had grown more recently, but the frost killed it off before it could harden.

[Sher]

They are so cool, ERR0R1755 . Do you give them the boiling water treatment to harden them?

I've never done it. Just read about it.

[ERR0R1755]

Nov 8, 2021 20:32:02 GMT -5 Sher said:

They are so cool, ERR0R1755 . Do you give them the boiling water treatment to harden them?

I've never done it. Just read about it.

To harden them off, you need to leave them on the vine until the vine dies back and the gourds start to turn brown. Once they start to turn brown, you can cut off the vine (leaving the main stem!) and then dry them indoors until you can shake the gourds and hear the seeds rattling.

You don't want to cut into the gourds or damage them before that point, since it can take up to six months for them to dry completely, which means that they will rot if damaged.