Buffalo Gourd, Wild Gourd, Missouri Gourd, Calabazilla (Cucurbita foetidissima)

Buffalo Gourd, Wild Gourd, Missouri Gourd, Calabazilla
Cucurbita foetidissima

Little bowls made from dried gourds

Very cute! Did you make these yourself, Kelli?

Thanks, yes I did.

They really are adorable. I have one of these plants growing right next door. You've inspired me to try to make something with them next fall.

Go for it! And feel free to post pictures of them here if you want.

Kelli, love them. My dau loves gourds and has the kind that dippers are made. I used to do some, but din't know how to cure them properly.

I don't know that there is any trick to it. You just let them set in a fairly airy place, like a shaded porch or garage that isn't stuffy. I've had winter squash dry out sitting on top of the refrigerator. Of course, it might be a whole different ballgame in a humid climate. I don't know.

Yeah, probably humidity. My home was on a lake front and I had to keep a shoe box in each closet with some baking soda in it to keep leather goods from mildewing. It seemed to work as after I cleaned off the mildew and started doing the baking soda bit, no more mildew. Thanks for the suggestion.

We don't have humidity here, so I'm really not the best one to advise, I guess, but I would set them out so that they aren't touching each other and turn them over regularly (every couple days?) so that all surfaces get good ventilation.

Thanks, kelli. maybe I can get a gourd from my dau and try again just for drill. : )

It was mentioned on the Plant Files page that the buffalo gourd's shell is thin as an egg shell thus unsuitable for any use. I gathered a large number of them this past winter after they had dried and found the shells to be of varying thickness but generally on the thin side. I suspect that the thickness depends on the growing conditions in a particular growing season, particularly how much water they receive. Our summers are generally very dry and we can go 2 or 3 months with no rain along with 100+degree temps daily. The plant itself survives and flourishes through these extreme droughts by being fed from its very thick root but I think gourd thickness depends on amount of moisture received. Kelli lives in a pretty much frost-free area, so I'm curious what kind of life cycle the buffalo gourd has in such an environment if it doesn't freeze back. In my area, our ground doesn't freeze, but the above-ground plant always freezes to the ground with the first frost. Once the ground temp warms up enough in the spring, it grows very rapidly.

The plant sprouts in the spring and grows through the summer. (I don't know how it does it when there is no rain usually from April to mid October.) The plant dies back on its own in the fall after the gourds ripen. The shells are thin but I'd say they are a tad bit thicker than an egg shell.