Be careful when harvesting the calabashes
Be careful not to harvest calabashes too early. It is best to wait until the plants begin to wither. During this time the days and nights are already getting cooler.
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Note: If you harvest the bottle gourds too early, there is a risk that they will dry out rot - in this case it is impossible to continue using the fruit and to make something beautiful out of it do.
How to properly dry calabashes
Choose a dry and warm place to dry your calabashes. A cellar and also a quiet place in one Garden shed(€ 39.99 at Amazon *) are excellent.
Not all bottle gourds can stand on their own. For this reason, we advise you to either hang the calabashes on the neck with a gardener's bast or alternatively put a ring made of cardboard or solid material underneath.
You may be wondering what exactly happens during the drying process. Here is the answer: the pulp becomes woody and impermeable to water. This means that you can also store liquids in them without any problems at the end, when the calabashes are completely dry.
Important: Calabashes MUST be air dried. Just don't try to speed it up by pulling in the oven. This procedure is fine for other fruits, but fatal for the bottle gourds.
And: do not touch your calabashes while they are drying. Even small changes or damage can cause your pulp to rot.
Tips
You can tell that calabashes are ready to dry by the fact that the seeds rattle loudly and clearly when you shake the pumpkins. But try this out only after a while (a few days).
How to proceed after drying
After drying, you can use a saw edit - whether you build a bird house or other objects out of it is up to you. Your creativity is required. Original lamps can also be made with dried calabashes. All you need to do is saw off the floor and run the cable through the neck. In addition, you can paint the outer skin of the calabash wonderfully, whether with acrylic paints or simply with a glossy clear varnish. If you peel the pumpkins after they have dried, the result is unique vases.
Last but not least, a note: Only use fully ripe calabashes with an already slightly lignified fruit wall for drying and processing.
The garden journal freshness-ABC
How can fruit & vegetables be stored correctly so that they stay fresh as long as possible?
The garden journal freshness ABC as a poster:
- as free PDF file to print out on your own