We went to a local farm to purchase some veggies and off in a field was a small structure covered in leaves. I couldn't resist check'n it out. When I arrived at the structure I found it was open in the front and back (or side to side if you prefer) and inside were gourds hanging down like bells in the belfry. I just stood there with my mouth hanging open. I had no idea that gourds could hang like that. I thought their weight would cause them to break away from the mother vine, falling to the ground. That obviously was not the case.
Since this is the first year of the gourd trellis I don't have any pictures to show but here is one I found on the internet to illustrate the gourd trellis:
There are all kinds of ways to make a gourd trellis. You can make them, as I did, out of re-bar and 4x4 fence wire. The picture on the left is obviously made with wood. They can be shaped in rectangles or circles or Quonset hut shape. All you really need is something the vine can climb and a little imagination. Oh, maybe a small amount of sweat would help.
So my gourd trellis is finished except for the all important gourds. That's Ginger's department and since it's still winter and I had to use a pick to break the icy soil to create the planter I be think'n it's going to be 4 months or more before we even see the beginnings of a leaf covered structure yet alone the fruits of my labor (pun intended).
I might add that I do have a "plan B" in mind in case the gourd plant takes off and the trellis starts to sag under the weight of all the swollen ovaries we call gourds. I'll resist implementing "plan B" until I see how our growing season develops.
Here are a few pictures of my gourd trellis:
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| The planting area is 3.5 ft. by 2 ft and the span is about 6 ft. The fencing material is 4 ft. wide with 4x4 inch openings. The re-bar is 1/2 inch for the vertical members and 5/8 inch for the horizontal members. The re-bar comes pre-rusted and they don't charge extra for that. |
I guess this can be called a "coming attraction!" Kinda get's you excited about spring... well, it gets me excited!
Whoohoo!
4 comments:
Looks good. I am looking forward to hearing what your plan B is?? It looks like it might now take alot of weight, but it is hard to tell by the picture.. I like how you put it in the ground. That looks good. Why didn't you just put it on the trellace in the back.. You don't like the idea of gourds hanging over your head while sitting under it?
I do look forward to seeing what these gourds look like. Even if the qourd picture doesn't pay attention to what side it is supposed to show up on. hahaha
I saw on Dirty Jobs how they make qourd art. I can see you doing that. Love you and have fu..
One other thing. Why didn't you wait for spring to put this in. Why did you do it in the winter?? Are you that board.
The rebar that is vertical is 1/2 inch and the rebar that is horizontal is 5/8 inch. I’m expecting to see some sag on the horizontal but don’t have a clue as to how much weight will be across the span. Because of my lack of experience in this arena I decided to just wait and see what happens and if it starts to sag significantly to give me concern I’ll insert some braces in the middle or maybe weld some rebar at an angle to shore up the span.
We bought an assortment of gourd seeds. Some will be the swan type and others will be figure 8 shaped with the bottom larger than the top, yet others will be long and svelte. Actually I don’t really care as I just like the idea of the gourds hanging versus laying on the ground.
As far as what side of the fence the gourd will grow... on the vertical I haven’t a clue and probably the gourd will decide. On the horizontal they don’t get a choice, they have to fall through as they grow just because of gravity. These plant ovaries start out small and swell up and finally turn into a shape. As they grow they get heavier and then will fall through the 4x4 wire and hang there. They better or they will be in trouble.
Gourd art. I suppose some would consider my GBN (gourd bird nest) that I had last year, gourd art. That stuff is all over the place. Once the gourd is dried it’s just like balsa wood only stronger. You can cut it with a saw and glue it like wood. It isn’t as forgiving as wood as it will split or break because it’s brittle. Not hard to work with if you take your time. I think the hard part is figuring out what to make with a particular gourd.
This brings us to why I did this project in January. You hit the nail right on the head... I was bored. We had a little break in the weather so I just took advantage of it to get outside and make sweat.
That’s the story from Red Tail Ridge and I’m stick’n with it :-)
My mind did not picture such a large structure. How many seeds are you planting? and how many gourds actually flower off from one vine generally? Wow. It's really big. I think you should paint the rebar so it looks colorful even when it's naked. I really like this idea! I'm going to give it some thought for myself- only way smaller because I have a short grow season and I have a yellow thumb.
An update for how the gourd trellis turned out... great of course! The list is in sequence with the oldest first.
Click on the link to view, then use your back arrow to return to this comment (I hope).
Teaser
Squash Bugs
Growing like Weeds
Gourd Bells
The Harvest
Enjoy!!!
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