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Article: Great gourds! (growing and drying gourds for handicrafts)
- Article from:
- Sunset
- Article date:
- May 1, 1992
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1992 Sunset Publishing Corp. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Pottery of the plant world, hard-shell gourds grow in a fascinating array of shapes and sizes. When carved, painted, or embellished with colorful designs, they're prized as decorative art.
To grow and dry hard-shell gourds (Lagenaria siceraria) for craft purposes is to continue a practice that dates back 9,000 years to the Ocampo Caves in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. Over the centuries, use of gourds as functional and decorative containers became widespread, spanning continents, from the Americas to Asia and Africa.
You can grow hard-shell gourds, also known as calabashes, just for the delight of watching them develop into unusual shapes, or for ...