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To set up a gourd drying station you will need some sort of rack to place the gourds on that allows air flow all around them. I have used a homemade frame with wire fencing, a clothing rack, a bench, a wire shelving unit, and a pallet for this purpose. Be creative and you shouldn’t have to spend much money to set up your drying station. The process is very unpredictable with the length of time it will take, the stages of drying, and the end result.
Bottle Gourd
Chickadees need a 1-1/4-inch hole and like to nest in wooded areas. Bluebirds and tree swallows require a 1-1/2-inch hole and prefer to nest in open areas. For flycatchers, make the hole 1-3/4 to 2 inches in diameter and hang the gourd in a tree close to a brushy area. If you live in an area that’s not the most suitable for attracting purple martins, don’t despair.
How to Grow
Scrub the gourd in the water with fine steel wool. Spray paint stenciling looks fantastic on gourds. Spray paint is waterproof and available in different colors. Its way of adding depth and texture to the gourd is second to none. I enjoy using dollies and lace for my stencil, and I get terrific results. You could transform your painted gourds into pink or white flamingos.
Materials for a Purple Martin Gourd House:
Insert the wire through the hole you just made on the upper bulb of the gourd. The length of the wire entirely depends on how you want the birdhouse to hang. I suggest hanging it no more than a foot from branches, so the wire should be about two feet. The birdhouse pictured above is painted with a sunflower design and then covered with a few coats of polyurethane spray.
Great Native Plants for Western Gardens
Small holes will prevent invasive birds like starlings from entering. I spent hours on the internet scrapping for ideas. Since the birder in me wanted the best, I interviewed bird and art experts for rare ideas.
How to Dry Birdhouse Gourds
Sometimes Mother Nature needs a little help, so consider hand-pollinating the flowers to increase your gourd yield. I tried to take just the dead flower petals off and the end falls off. The plants take up a good amount of garden real estate when permitted to ramble along the ground, so consider using decorative support structures. As fall approaches, the days grow shorter and the nights become cooler. Keep providing an inch of water per week if it doesn’t rain, and watch for the first frost.
Purple martin fill gourds at Grand Haven State Park - HollandSentinel.com
Purple martin fill gourds at Grand Haven State Park.
Posted: Mon, 26 Aug 2019 07:00:00 GMT [source]
Before any crafting begins, we have to make sure the gourd is clean. If I’m lucky, I get to see mama bird feeding baby birds their breakfast. Some days they are out and about for their morning stroll; other times they are snuggled up together in the house taking an extra hour or two of sleep. I was a little sloppy with the first application and sprayed too much near the opening which caused some of the ink to bleed. You can see it on the petals to the right of the opening.
Then, rub it with the 400-grit sandpaper to make the surface smooth to the touch. Use your teaspoon and fingers to clean out as much of the gourd’s insides as you can. If the gourd has cured perfectly, this should not be very hard; you can just shake the insides loose. Use the sandpapers to smoothen out the hole you make. The 200-grit sandpaper is perfect for removing splinters, while the 400-grit sandpaper is good for giving it a good, smooth surface. A fully cured gourd will have a hard outer shell, and its fleshy meat will be all but gone.
How to Grow Sweet Potatoes!
The gourd has a skin that can be rubbed off and with it will come all those beautiful patterns. Gourd vines can be grown from transplants or directly by seed. I live in Southern Ontario (zone 4) and always plant my seeds directly in the ground after the last frost. I have waited until as late as June to ensure frost will not hurt my seedlings with success.
When you buy gourds for crafting a birdhouse, it is important to choose the right size for the bird you would like to attract. For larger birds like the purple martin, they prefer a 9-10” kettle gourd. For wrens, chickadees, and most other small birds, a kettle gourd from 6-8” in diameter works best. And if this is something you’re seriously considering, I’d suggest ordering seeds ASAP. Unlike any year before, seeds were a lot like toilet paper in 2020. This isn’t a quick process, but with a little planning you can grow your own gourd birdhouse.
After they dry for about 6 months, you can soak the birdhouse gourds in water and scrub the remaining skins off. You can leave them the natural color or paint them. The natural color is tan but they have spots that look kind of like mold. If you paint them, you need to use a paint that will not wash off. You can use house paint, acrylics, oil paints, or we used spray paint because that is what we had. When dry, you can hang your gourd (you’ll need at least 4 to 6 gourds to attract purple martins) from a 24-inch plastic-coated copper wire.
Hold the gourd and the drill firmly, but you don’t need to use heavy pressure. If the hole does not come out clean, you can lightly smooth the ragged edges with a wood file. The texture and thickness of birdhouse gourds will vary. They are strong, well-liked by the birds, and look really cool hanging outside in a tree or attached to a pole. The contents of some birdhouse gourds will dry differently than others. You may be lucky and have a gourd whose seeds are all loosened and can simply be shaken out.
It leaves the gourds well protected, shiny and beautiful, and it is really easy to apply. If you want to preserve the patterns from the mold, start the prep stage with a dry rub. I like to use exfoliating gloves for this step but any rough sponge/cloth will work. Outside and with your mask on, simply rub the mold off each gourd. As they come clean you begin to see the patterns on the gourd more clearly. Be careful not to scrub too hard since you do not want to remove all the markings from the molds just the fuzziness of the mold.
You want to be gentle and let the bit do the work. I speak from experience and am grateful for clear epoxy. Once the hole is drilled, sand it to remove any sharp edges. When positioning the hole, be sure to place it on an area of the gourd that allows for direct access, not too low and not to high on the gourd.
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