We’re very excited about one of our newest gourd collections – Wildflowers. The new collection could be described as “rustic chic”. Each piece is natural in color with a beautiful flower to decorate the center.

The medium lit gourds are approximately 5 1/2″ in diameter and comes with a green electric light that shines through the vine cut out design.

Medium Lit Wildflower Gourd

The small is approximately 4″ in diameter and comes with a rawhide tie around the neck of the vase.

Small Gourd Vase

How beautiful would one of these gourds look as part of a rustic bookshelf display like this one?

image courtesy homeportfolio.com

We are sending all of our blog readers a virtual gourd bouquet to say Happy Valentine’s Day! We hope it is a wonderful day spent with those you love.

It’s time for the February Product of the Month! Or, in this case, a whole family of MacBunnies.

This warm and sunny weather has us dreaming about the arrival of spring. And what better way to prepare for spring breezes and the Easter season than with this adorable family of gourd bunnies!

The MacBunnies are available in two sizes – the small (right) is approximately 2″ in diameter and the medium version is approximately 5″ in diameter (left). The medium MacBunnies also have an electric light installed with a kite cut-out in the belly and a bow tied around their necks.

And the colors! Our medium MacBunnies are available in pink, blue and yellow and our small MacBunnies are available in pink (complete with pearls) and blue (buttons down the front of his vest, too). The small sized MacBunnies also feature a puff of cotton for a tail.

Welcome the MacBunnies into your home this Spring.

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.

With the final days of January just ahead, we’re soon thinking about Valentine’s Day here at Meadowbrooke Gourds. Our January Product of the Month is both charming and whimsical, a gift for Mom from her wee ones.

New for 2012, this piece of gourd art is approximately 12″ tall and comes installed with an electric light.  We think you’ll enjoy it as much as we do!

Of course, it’s not the only Valentine-themed gourd art that we have available in our online shop.

The Valerie Valentine Angels are available in two sizes.

The small version (shown above) measures approximate 3 1/2 inches in diameter. The medium comes with an electric light that shines through the heart vine cut-out design. Approximately 5″ in diameter.

Purple martins nest almost exclusively in man-made structures like a birdhouse constructed from one of our raw, cleaned gourds. If you’re eager to attract this large swallow species to your backyard, a dried and cleaned gourd can easily be constructed into a birdhouse.

 Procedure:

• Select a well-dried and aesthetically pleasing gourd. Remember, thick walls will ensure that the gourd birdhouse will weather the elements well.  Varieties with broad bottoms like Martin and Bottle make good choices here.
• Using a 2″ circle saw, drill a hole roughly 3 inches above the base of the gourd.  Work slowly to avoid splintering the gourd.  The circle saw bit will leave a clean-edged hole.
• The gourd will still be full of seeds and some internal membranes, so you can empty those out through the hole you just cut. Don’t throw away the seeds! They can be planted to produce your own gourds during the next growing season.
• Drill three small holes in the bottom of the gourd for drainage. 1/8″ will do nicely here.
• Drill two holes at the top of the gourd and thread either sisal twine or thin wire through to hang the birdhouse.
• You are now free to paint, stain or seal your gourd birdhouse in any way you’d like. Bright solid colors work well.

If you need some creative inspiration, here’s a selection of gourd birdhouses available at our online store.

Various gourd shapes make up our MBGourd birdhouses

Raw penguin gourds

If you’re new to crafting with gourds, you’ve probably discovered that there are a dizzying number of gourd varieties – shapes, sizes and grades – available to the crafting consumer. Our raw, cleaned gourds are craft-ready for your next project.

The best way to create a beautiful gourd art piece is to start with a top quality gourd. The most prized gourds among many gourd artisans are those that are symmetrical with a smooth, thick shell without visible cracks or other imperfections. Inspect the surface of the gourd closely and look for cracks or other damage.

Superficial cracks can be easily patched and filled with any commercially available woodfiller.

Choose gourds that have a shape and size that works for your intended craft project. Penguin gourds have a curved neck that many find appealing, but may not stand upright on their own. Bottle gourds have a pinched waist between wider tops and bottoms. Experiment with different sizes and shapes to get those creative juices flowing. Does the raw gourd remind you of something? Build your design around it.

Treat the walls of the gourd as you would treat wood – it can be etched, burned with a woodburning tool, carved, stained and painted. The only limits are your imagination! Just a reminder: gourd dust can be irritating, so be sure to wear a respirator and work in a well-ventilated area if you are going to be cutting your gourd open.

Although we have many weeks of winter still ahead of us, it is fun to think about the coming of Spring. We just finalized the dates of our 2012 Spring Open Houses, which also puts us in the mood to talk about bunnies, chicks, and all things Easter!

For just a taste of spring in your home all year long, we suggest our dragonfly, hummingbird, or butterfly! These gourds are simple, modern, and beautiful. The light makes them a great option for a soothing nightlight as well. Just click on any of the images to purchase.

Dragonfly gourd with light

Humminbird with light

Butterfly with light

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.

Happy 2012, everyone! We hope you are having a wonderful start to the new year.

We are excited to introduce our first Product of the Month of 2012  and we are thinking Valentine’s Day! Our new Valentine Vine gourd is red in color with a vine cut-out and is 12″ tall. It comes with an electric light. This would be a special gift for someone or just for yourself!

Purchase our new Valentine Vine gourd here.