Do a google search for the gourd reserve dot com and go there - you will find all the information on quick drying gourds. Look for the gourd report 1 which is on the left side of the home page.. I would probably get kicked off here if I put the info in link form as I believe that would be considered advertising or something.

I have not tried any of the methods mentioned in the book report - it is tempting but this is the first time I have ever grown gourds and I am scared to death I would wreck em!

Anyone else tried these methods? How did it work for you?

Rita in Kalamazoo Michigan

Hi Lois, Rita gave you excellent directions to find the Gourd Reserve web site. Dan put a lot of time in coming up with this method and I think it is great. It involves soaking MATURE gourds in water (in a bucket or whatever)for a period of 6 or 7 weeks and rinsing the rotting pulp out at various stages. This produces a beautiful gourd without all the mold stains and a perfectly clean inside and very importantly, NO MOLD to mess up your lungs. I tried it on several apple gourds and experimented with shortening the time down to 10 to 14 days and got the same results. Dan stresses in his article that it may not work with all varieties of gourds and to try it first on one you wouldn't mind losing if it doesn't work. Read his article. It's chock full of excellent information. I've tried it on two varieties so far with no problems. Good luck and keep us posted if you try it. Gene

Thankyou both for that information, I will try it when this years gourds dry. last years are already cleaned. I did try Rita's method of hot soapy dish water & a metal scrubby. It worked better than any other way I have tried. Thanks again

Hi Lois, The nice thing about the water/rot method is that you don't have to wait until they dry. As long as they are fully mature when you pick them, you can do it right away. That way you advoid the mold and mold stains on your gourd. I have a few pix on my PT site that I just put in that shows four of this years gourds that I "rotted" and how long it took. They are in the "Gourds 2006" albumn.
Go to picturetrail.com/genepa Gene

Gegepa, I guess I didn't pay attention to your first responce. I missed the doing it mature part. I read it , it did not sink in. Thanks for clearing that up. Lois