Decorative Gourd Season
I’m obsessed with decorative gourds. I can’t help buying them anywhere I see them – at the supermarket, at the garden store, at Home Depot. Can you blame me? There’s such a wide variety of colors, patterns, bumps, shapes and sizes. They’re perfect. In a way, Decorative Gourd Season makes me not even miss summer.
My husband doesn’t feel similarly. Last week he asked “So, how much money are you going to spend on gourds this year??” I responded, trying to look really cute, “Oh, did you see this wonderful arrangement I made for the dining room table?”. Followed by a clincher diversion, “Do you want escarole soup for dinner tonight? It came out great.”
I buy gourds for decor but these hard-shelled fruits served real purpose worldwide throughout history. They were made into tools: cups, bowls, water jugs and spoons; and used as musical instruments: drums, strings, maracas and, of course, the nose flute. Gourds were objects of beautiful art and carvings; they were also used as food. The oldest documented gourds were found in Peru, discovered in archaeological sites dating from 13,000 BC. That variety found is called a bottle gourd. The gourd may in fact be the first domesticated plant species ever, originating from Asia.
The name gourd refers to the fruit of the plants, of the diverse cucurbitaceae family. There are three main types: the cucurbita or ornamentals, the lagenaria or hardshell, and the luffa or vegetable sponge. Yes, your shower loofah is made from a gourd!
Along with gourds, I enjoy adorning my home with barrels of hay, corn stalks, mums, chrysanthemums and pumpkins, to create lavish fall displays. Lisena Garden Center (125 Cross Bay Blvd, Broad Channel) has all of these necessary items, so take a ride this weekend and get going with those gourds.
This is the oldest known gourd, the bottle gourd. I’ve seen them in KeyFood recently. Can you believe this fruit was unearthed in archaeological sites in Peru and also available in KeyFood.
This is one of my favorites, known as the Turban Squash. It’s an heirloom, predating 1820 from Northeastern United States. There’s something about the white “brain” protrusion on this one that makes it so desirable. It’s known as “the most beautiful in color, and the most worthless in quality, of all the varieties.” Lol!
On a recent trip to the Catskills, I had to get some hay and additional pumpkins. It was too good of a bargain to pass up!
