Plucked from my garden

I love gourds, completely inspired by their forms. No two are alike and it's sometimes hard to figure out which to buy (or to rule out) for an arrangement.

This year was different as I had a volunteer plant coming from my compost pile.  I don't remember composting this variety last year.... Regardless, I was excited to see what the decision that was made for me had in mind.

I'm quite taken with this color! and am surprised by their solidity (average weight around 1.25 pounds!) - I love how their weight, form, and texture feels in the palm of my hand! At first glance they seem so very similar from one to the next. But their subtle differences nestled together are what make this collection different and interesting.

Miniature crazy detail!

This is a small gourd that we purchased in Quito, Ecuador, with a story wood-burned in. I fell in love with the miniature detail throughout it's three-dimensional being. It's quite crazy when you look closely at it -- as the imagery flows perfectly together from one turn to the next. I can't imagine how it is done with a wood-burning tool.....

It was a very satisfying harvest

that I had yesterday. The vines are started to yellow and the flowers no longer had the oomph they had had throughout the growing season. Granted it was the last day of summer yesterday and it seemed appropriate to pull the roots that had found a home in the dirt and harvest the hedgehog gourds that had come into the world these last couple of months.

I marveled at the uniqueness of each one as I pulled them from their food source - crazy the strength that was still there holding them to. And so strange in texture - softly bristly, yes, if gently held. But also I couldn't help but notice the feeling was somewhat similar to the encounter of a cactus, where very fine-like needles that, without gloves on,  find their way into the skin and are so very hard to see to then remove.... Thankfully gloves were in hand, on hand, for the harvest to progress. What a delight it was to set them all out to dry! I left a few on the vine as I liked how it looked on my red cart.....

Softly bristly and green

Remember this last late winter I had purchased some seeds from this great seed company? Well, Spring arrived and I planted them expectedly, and due to life it took me longer than intended to get my then-sad-looking seedlings into the ground. At the time, it really didn't look very promising... Well, nature did what it does during summer - lots of rain and warm sun and then, with great excitement, I saw happy bees at the sweet little yellow flowers. And as it is with any fruit, the flower then produced what I had hoped to see ~ hedgehog gourds! in all of their softly bristly and green glory! What a delight they are and how fun they are to feel!! I'm curious to see how they continue to grow as the season comes to an end. Will the softly bristly green remain? We shall see.....