All’s gourd with the world
Gourds know best. You can’t be a gourd without a good reason. Imagine a gaggle of dried gourds gathered by a window just to watch the winter and not think at all – just be gourds by a window. Could be any window. Gourds know best.
I’ve seen volunteer gourd vines doggedly determined to leave home and travel as far as the season will allow – maybe 12 feet down a path, six feet up a fence and 15 feet northeasterly. Gourd offspring dangle on the fence hoping someday the kind gardener will turn them into birdhouses or dippers like in the old days.
Those gourd vines sprouted from compost like any other preacher with a mission. None of their neighbors traversed that path and climbed a fence. Evidence indicates humans used gourds as far back as 15,000 years ago. All the jazz bands at the time depended heavily on dried gourds and hollow stumps to keep the rhythm, and gourds to this day are excellent for percussion.
But 15,000 years ago, Earth was adjusting to life after centuries of an ice age. Dancing was in order, and gourds were ready to help. Serious scientists with dirt on their hands, and plenty of time, are conflicted about the origin of the first gourd because they appear in ancient diggings all over world. An archeological site in Peru revealed remnants of a bottle gourd dating possibly from 15,000 years ago, but a site in Thailand from just 1000 years or so later had a bottle gourd, also. Maybe they floated across the ocean, because gourds are tough and determined. Gourds know best. Ancient Africa had its own independent species, so it appears gourds are necessary.
They are related to pumpkins, melons and cucumbers. What we call gourds have a hard shell and are usually fibrous inside. The fibrous inside of the luffa gourd can be used to exfoliate your skin in a shower or you can use it to wash your dishes… in the shower. Herbalists claim the fibrous inside can be boiled and used medicinally to prevent colds or relieve nasal congestion. The young fruit is plenty edible and can be added to stir-fries.
Turban squash are considered gourds and are edible. We usually don’t think of pumpkins and acorn squash as gourds, but you can if you want to. Who am I to argue? Hunter-gathers in the northern forests of the Congo don’t care if what they eat is a gourd or not, so I don’t either.
Not all gourds are edible, however, because they are bitter and hard to chew. Undeterred chefs could persevere with unpredictable outcomes for palatability, but gourds are relatives of squashes so some of the same minerals and vitamins are in there somewhere. If you insist, try the youngest fruit (which, by the way, are considered berries).
There are more than 700 species of gourds in the world. Somebody counted. They generally belong to two genera: Lagenaria and Cucurbita. Gourd plants produce both female and male flowers, so pollinators are needed to produce fruit. Therefore, plant flowers nearby. Plant flowers anyway even if you don’t plant gourds.
Dried gourds have been used as bowls for soup or gruel. Some with long necks are useful for dipping water. When European marauders came to this continent, they saw the original residents using gourds as birdhouses near gardens for purple martins to help keep the insect pest population under control.
Gourds make excellent rattling instruments such as maracas in Central America and shekeres in Africa. In Iran, clever musicians fashioned a large gourd into a stringed instrument resembling a cello, and Greek rock and rollers turned gourds into stringed instruments resembling mandolins. Same thing in China, Mali, and around the world.
Not only that, you can paint them if you want to. Let them dry and then replicate Starry Night or your favorite Monet. Gourds are versatile and gourds know best.