Before the first frost touches your garden with its icy fingers, harvest gourds and prepare them for their use as birdhouses, decorations, sponges, or whatever else is in store for this useful fruit.

Shaped like an oversized apple, these hard-shelled gourds (Lagenaria siceraria) grow six to eight inches tall and four to six inches across. In India, young fruit is added to curries. The skin is ...

Birdhouse gourds originated in North America hundreds of years ago. Native American Indians such as the Chickasaw tribe are believed to be the first people to use gourds as birdhouses. The Chickasaw ...

“Repurpose, recycle, reuse” is the mantra for today’s decor. You’ll get double the value if you decorate for autumn with organic elements that can later be repurposed, All over America it’s the season ...

When do I harvest my birdhouse gourds and how do I do it? Harvest them when they are full-size, the skin is hardened, and the stem attached to the fruit turns brown. These thick-skinned gourds can ...

A birdhouse gourd class will take place at the Ray Township Senior Center on May 30 from 9 a.m. to noon. Participants will be able to create two unique birdhouses from gourds. All materials will be ...

(Author's note: When I started writing this column 26 years ago — oh, yes, before the turn of the century — it was only to be a few months in the summer. But seeing that gardening was becoming very ...

Gourds are plentiful in the autumn -- you'll find them at farm stands, garden centers and grocery stores. Don’t toss your gourds at the end of the season, dry them instead. Dried gourds weigh a few ...

If I plant gourds again (talk me out of it, won't you?), maybe I'll want to try something different from the dippers I've already grown. (They are definitely worth growing in a smallish garden — once.