"Dovecoted Columbarium Cucurbitaceae" --by RusticWoodArt

thank you for sharing this process. I have 2 gourds sitting in my porch—waiting… waiting.. waiting…

I wondered what you did with the insides. Sounds like that might be tedious work…

-- ~ Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

Hi Debbie;
—-actually these are fun to make and not at all hard to get the dried insides out.

I will post some photos of the picks I make to do the work and also how I make the picks, at least I will try and do that this week. The picks are also easy to make and the whole process can be quite fun, plus folks love to buy them. Hardest part of the whole process is that you start by planting in the spring—-harvesting in the fall—-drying out over the winter, and….waiting is good for patience, they say….till in the coming spring ‘the process’ can be finished!

GODSPEED,
Frank

-- --frank, NH, http://frank.wordpress.com/

Frank,
What if they were outside but covered from the rain? Like out on the back patio, where the birds could find shelter next to the bird feeder.

And planting what? The gourds? Where do you get gourd seeds?

-- http://ye-olde-cabinet-shoppe.com/

Frank, very nice! Thanks for sharing the process for making these wonderful birdhouses. I like the delicate curved lines of the gourds. It must be very satisfing to see these from begining to end.

-- http://foldingrule.blogspot.com

Hi Everyone;
—-Obi;
....to answer your question, I get the seeds at Agway, Blue Seal or Home Depot, not sure what is in your area, but I imagine you could also order over the internet? There are all types and sizes of gourds that you can buy from and for; birdhouses, (laddles—-these are called Dipper Gourds), decorative gourds and ones that can be used for crafts and bowls, the only thing that limits you as to the use of gourds is your imagination and time and effort you want to put into the project. One that we also get is shaped as a gooseneck, I also know that some folks who are into beading will bead them and paint them.

I have also found that the seed packages show pictures and from this you can get an idea of which ones to buy and for what project.

If you are using them outside, then instead of using lacquer, I would suggest exterior varnish or the exterior poly’s for a finish. I have never used it on the gourds but I imagine marine spar varnish would work well also, although the spar varnish tends to be darker or more golden in color and darkens over time, which actually might be nice. See how this process works, now you’ve got me thinking and I’ll be trying some spar varnish soon on some I have left over. For any type of outside use you will also need to finish the inside and outside. I tend to make and sell them to folks who want them for inside decoration….a birdhouse looks awefully awesome when hanging inside at a window in your sunroom or den and is a conversation piece as well.

As far as planting goes, we cover the ground with black plastic which keeps the weeds out, plant seed in paper cup with holes in the sides for the roots, place in the ground through holes cut in the black plastic and leave the rest up to the ‘nature of the seed’. The paper cup will eventually fall apart in the soil and next year all is tilled back into the earth. All in all a very low key maintenance project!

Sorry abou being slow getting back here, but we ‘got snow’ last night and I’ve been outside plowing the farm and am now going back out shortly to finish the clean up by hand power—-the old way of knowing how to use a snow shovel.

GODSPEED,
Frank

-- --frank, NH, http://frank.wordpress.com/

Frank, I just love the names you assign your art. They force me to learn new things and there is nothing more rewarding than learning new things at my age.

Who would believe it? This is also called a colombier (columbarium) or dovecote, a shelter for birds (especially pigeons). You must have small pigeons in NH, Frank.

And the word, cucurbitaceae, is a gourd-shaped flask forming the body of an alembic, formerly used in distillation.

So, my conclusion? Frank is making birdhouses for very small pigeons with a liking for distilled spirits. Did I distill the spirit of the subject correctly, Frank? LOL

-- CanuckDon "I just love small wooden boxes!" http://www.hilsbiblechurch.org/

Hi Don;
—-just keep those pictures coming and I like your comments also.

Weellllllllll lets see now, first off we’ll start with the ‘columbarium-dovecote’, since I am the one doing the naming, this gives me a certain amount of freedom to play with words, and I like playing with words. Although pigeons do reside in NH and a dovecote is a shelter for pigeons, as you corrrectly stated, this word also encircles ‘birds’. And as I like bluebirds; (eastern bluebirds around here) well that means the hole size in the gourd is 1-1/2’’, western and mountain bluebirds go for the larger size of 1-9/16’’.

And also ‘cucurbitaceae’ is a ‘plant family’ of the herbaceous vines which happens to include ‘gourds’ among many others.

So lets see now, columbarium-dovecote-cucurbitaceae….....hm,...oh yes I almost forgot; since I am a rustic-wood-spirit, I do not mix well with distilled spirits and so Don, how are we doing?

I think one thing we need around here are ‘Emoticons’ to show the humor in all this.
GODSPEED,
Frank

-- --frank, NH, http://frank.wordpress.com/

I agree Frank (re the “facies” as I like to call them).

I have enjoyed the little debate on the words used -it has definitely broadened my knowledge as well as my insight, stretching meanings perceptions, ideas etc.

keep it coming Frank & Don.. keep it coming :D (that’s a BIG grin)

-- ~ Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

Right now I have about 30 gourds hanging that I had grown this summer. I plan on doing craft projects with the gkids. They love making things for their parents and it’s always a blast for grandma to see them make their own gifts. I had last year cut one to clean it. I ended up having to cut just the top off sorta like a bowl. I thought I was going to destroy it when I cleaned it out. I dried it again but the shell sure is thin. Excited to see how these turn out when I clean them in the SPRING. LOL
Thanks for sharing.

-- Cathy Krumrei