Gourds in Your Garden A Guidebook for the Home Gardener

by Summit, Ginger

• ISBN13: 9780806926995
• ISBN10: 0806926996
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-06-30
• Publisher: Sterling

Summary

Whether you're a seasoned gardener enchanted with their lush vines and unusually shaped fruit or a crafter in search of the perfect gourd for a specific project, this easy-to-use primer takes the mystery out of growing gourds. Largely ignored by most gardening books, gourd plants require specific attention to produce healthy vines and satisfactory fruit. Learn how to: * Identify popular gourd shapes * Plan and cultivate your garden * Grow, train, and harvest a bountiful crop * Control pests and disease with natural remedies * Prepare your gourds for use-in recipes and art projects. Lists of suppliers, a growing calendar, and space for notes on your own garden conditions make this the complete gourd sourcebook. A delight to read as well as a lasting reference, this long overdue guide to the adventures of growing one of Nature's greatest gifts is an essential addition to any gardener's library.

Table of Contents

Introduction	7	(2)
SECTION I What is a Gourd?
The Botanical Description	9	(12)
Hardshell Gourds	12	(5)
Basket type
Bottle type
Dipper type
Trough/Siphon/Snake
Ornamentals: Cucurbita Pepo	17	(1)
Luffa Gourds	18	(1)
More of the Cucurbita Family	19	(1)
Tree Gourds	20	(1)
Cultural History	21	(4)
SECTION II The Gourd Garden	25	(50)
Preparation	26	(18)
Selecting the Garden Site	26	(2)
Frost Data for Selected Locations	28	(3)
Well Fertilized Soils	31	(3)
Plenty of Water	34	(3)
Planting Options	37	(1)
Container Gardening	38	(6)
Trellises and Arbors
Using supports already in place
Temporary (movable)
Permanent Structures
Planting The Garden	44	(21)
All About Seeds	44	(3)
Planting the Garden	47	(8)
Starting the plants indoors
Planting seeds directly into the ground
Trimming the vines
Pollination	55	(4)
Natural pollination
Hand pollination
Fruit Set	59	(6)
Thinning excess fruit
Shaping/training gourds as they grow
Molding your gourd
Harvesting Your Crop	65	(10)
Ornamental gourds
Luffas
Hardshell gourds
Leaving gourds in the field
Bringing the gourds in from the garden
Hastening the Curing Process	72	(2)
Cleaning Up the Garden	74	(1)
SECTION III Potential Problems and What to do About them	75	(18)
Pests	77	(6)
Cucumber beetle
Squash bug
Squash vine borer
Cutworms
Aphids
Diseases	83	(4)
Powdery mildew
Anthracnose
Bacterial wilt
Mosaic viruses
Good Garden Maintenance	87	(1)
Common Remedies	88	(5)
Natural remedies
Insecticides
Disease controls
SECTION IV Uses For Your Gourds	93	(29)
Gourds for Food	94	(3)
Gourds as Medicine	97	(3)
Gourds in the Garden	100	(5)
Birdhouses
Bird feeders
Simple Ideas for Gourd Crafting	105	(5)
Cleaning a Gourd
Ornaments
Containers
SECTION V A Season in the Gourd Garden
Growing Calendar	110	(12)
APPENDIXES
Appendix I: USDA Hardiness Zone Map	112	(3)
Appendix II: American Gourd Society	115	(1)
Appendix III: Other Members of the Cucurbitaceae Family	116	(2)
Appendix IV: Suppliers of Seeds	118	(2)
Appendix V: Suppliers of Dried Gourds	120	(2)
Bibliography	122	(2)
Index	124