We’re so excited to have taken the plunge into the world of pinning on Pinterest! We’re loving it already and filling our boards up with gourd, home, and crafting inspiration! Check out our page here. We look forward to following your boards.
Photo courtesy of tspaceonline.com
Perhaps one of the oldest uses for gourds are as vessels for holding and transporting liquids. Dippers, bowls and drinking vessels have historically been crafted from gourds by peoples from around the world.
Have you heard of the drink called yerba mate? An infusion that hails from Argentina, it has become increasing popular over the years, due in part to its rejuvenating and antioxidant properties. This link will tell you all about how to prepare the drink and its history, but what we want you to know is that the bitter infusion is prepared in – and consumed from – a gourd in combination with a metal straw called a bombilla. Our raw roger gourds could be used in crafting a mate gourd, if you so choose. They are also offered for sale at Guayaki and other online vendors.
Curing Your Mate Gourd
We recommend that you “cure” your gourd prior to your first use. This helps to protect the gourd for yerba mate use.
1. Using a teaspoon, scrape the inside of the gourd to remove any loose skin and debris.
2. Fill the gourd ½ full with dry loose yerba mate.
3. Carefully top off the gourd with boiling water. Note: when drinking yerba mate later, DO NOT use boiling water as this can burn your mouth and also harms the flavor of the yerba.
4. After a few minutes the water level should go down as it soaks into the yerba leaves. When this happens, carefully top off the gourd again with boiling water.
5. Let the gourd sit for about 12 hours to allow the yerba mate mixture to penetrate the gourd completely.
6. Empty and rinse the gourd with hot tap water.
7. Scrape the inside again (see step one).
8. Rinse with clean hot tap water and dry quickly and completely (see care instructions).
Caring For Your Gourd
Following a timely cleaning and drying routine after each use, storing your mate in a dry location, and inspecting the gourd prior to each use, should keep your gourd clean.
1. Immediately after each use, empty the gourd of yerba and rinse the gourd with clean clean tap water (if you use hot tap water it will help it dry faster).
2. Hand dry the gourd with a clean towel. (A towel will not completely dry the gourd but helps removes the excess water so the gourd dries faster). Prompt and complete drying is necessary to prevent mold growth.
3. Place the gourd upside down on a rack in a dry location and allow it to dry completely. It may be necessary to dry the gourd near some source of dry heat like a home heat radiator. However, be careful not to place the gourd near a flame or where it could catch fire – the gourd is flammable!
4. When your gourd is dry, store your gourd right-side-up in a well ventilated area. We recommend storing it near a window where sunlight can enter the gourd to help prevent mold or mildew.
5. Always inspect the gourd before each use to make sure your gourd is clean.
Raw gourds at Meadowbrooke Gourds
For all of you DIYers out there or for those that are just interested in what we do at Meadowbrooke Gourds, here is some insight into one of the steps in gourd crafting- drying.
For those that want to craft and paint their own gourds without the hassle of growing, drying, and cleaning, we do offer raw, cleaned gourds in many shapes and sizes online here.
Here at the farm after the first frost, we cut the gourds off the vine and line them up in rows. There they sit until the snows melt and the ground thaws. By that time they are close to 90% dry. Then we pick them up, and the can begin thier journey to our washing and crafting rooms.
Gourds in our zone in Central Pennsylvania grow from June to October or until the first hard frost hits. The frost will kill the vine and it will not continue to grow. After the hard frost hits, pick your gourds and let them dry outside over winter, off the ground (skid, picnic table, etc.) if you can. It is okay to place them on the ground-they will just take a little longer to dry. If a gourd has a matured to a hard shell a frost will not harm it. If a gourd got a late start and is not mature, the frost will make it rot.
A quality gourd will go through a skin decay molding process-this is normal as long as the gourd is still hard and not mushy to the touch. Do not get discouraged if your gourds look terrible and may even smell. Small gourds dry faster than larger ones. Some really large gourds can take up to June the following year to dry completely. Your gourd is completely dried when it weighs only ounces. For most, this is around March or April.
Please let us know if you have any gourd drying questions! We’re here to help.
Meet our #1 selling winter product- Nick!
This gourd snowman head is white in color with a black top. He has an orange carrot gourd nose and a gourd pipe. The large is approximately 8 inches in diameter and comes with an electric light.
Nick will warm up your home all winter long!
View our other snowman collections:
The Stanley Family
Oliver Collection
Brambles
Lana
Frosty Family
Charlie
THANK YOU to everyone that participated in our online Silent Auction as well as the live Silent Auction at our Retail Store this past weekend.
Here are just a few of the unique, one-of-a-kind gourds that were sold:
Large tree gourd
Snowman with Stars
Caroler
Gourd Nativity Scene
4-tier snowman
Santa Silhouette
Winter Scene
Blue Lit Flower
This past weekend was the first weekend of our “Create Your Own Workshop” as part of our Winter Open House events. Customers had the chance to create their own Snowman, Santa, or Angel gourd and enter it into our Winter Contest if they chose to do so.
This workshop continues on Friday and Saturday, December 9th and 10th. All ages and skill levels are welcome.
The Create your Own station was set up behind-the-scenes in our production area. Here are just a few photos:
These gourds will become original Santas!
Customers can choose from white or natural colored gourds to make a snowman
Choosing a scarf
There are so many ways to personalize your gourd!
Halos and ear muffs!
Adorable snowmen created by one of our customers
Our amazing crafters hard at work
We absolutely love seeing the creativity during these events.
This coming Saturday, November 19th, during our Winter Open House we will be holding a Painting Class! Participants will have the opportunity to add their own personal touch to this lit winter scene gourd.
Our customers are always so creative! We look forward to seeing the finished gourds. All skill levels welcome. There are a few openings still available. Email bethm@mbgourds.com to reserve your space at either the 11:00-12:30 class or 1:30-3:00 class. The cost is $30.
In yesterday’s post we talked about ways to use our Gourdicopia collection to create a stunning Thanksgiving table. We have even more ideas for you today!
Instead of using a bowl or container, create a Thanksgiving centerpiece spread. We absolutely love this table design by Kim Krejca. (view her original post here.)
image by Kim Krejca
Using Williams-Sonoma Great American Turkey dish towels as inspiration and a starting point, Kim used items she had around the house to create this lovely spread. She incorporated artichokes, pears, dried gourds, pomegranates, artificial white pumpkins and autumn leaves, but the possibilities are really endless!!
Photo by Kim Krejca
Another way to enjoy the rustic simplicity of a raw, cleaned gourd is to craft it into a gourd luminary centerpiece. Just be sure to use an LED tealight in your dried gourds and not a real candle.
image courtesy of marthastewart.com
These examples by Martha Stewart are a great starting point for inspiration! The best thing is, once you create your luminaries they will last for years to come.
Clothing and houseware retailer, Anthropologie, is known for their absolutely stunning window displays. Not only are they beautiful, they are eco-friendly and wildly creative.
Their recent fall windows caught our eye because the main focal point is the use of raw gourds. We appreciate the sculptural, organic flair gourds bring to decor of all sorts and gourd lovers everywhere will appreciate this artistic interpretation. Here are some of the photos from the Anthropologie Facebook page: Enjoy and be inspired with gourd creativity!
image copyright Anthropologie
image copyright Anthropologie
image copyright Anthropologie
image courtesy Anthropologie
image courtesy Anthropologie
image copyright Anthropologie
Our friends at Plow and Hearth Harrisburg, PA will be holding their Grand Opening Celebration this Sunday, October 9th. We will be there for our Create your own Jack O’Lantern activity!
In addtion to this fun event, we will be at the National Apple Harvest Festival on Saturday and Sunday!
Also, don’t forget, Friday and Saturday is the second weekend of our Fall Open House!
Activities include: Make your Own Scarecrow and Oops! Sale (Extended from Fall Open House 1) As well as,Create-your-own Jack o’ Lantern, and New this year! Scarecrow head and Green Witch. We put our very best craftsmen in a giant gourd called the “Jack Shaq”. After drawing your design on the gourd, feed it to the Jack Shaq and out will come your one-of-a-kind artistically cut gourd. All ages and levels of artistic skill are encouraged to try this! You will find you have more talent than you ever thought.
(Workshop opens at Noon on Friday. Last seating will be one hour prior to closing.)