Martha's Gourds creates unique items using gourds. They are all crafted and designed by Martha Bloom and can be anything from art on bowls to sculptures of animals, whether domestic or wild. After many years of just concentration on gourd craft, watercolor and dot art have been added also.
Gourds need a long growing season, so in our colder climate that means starting them indoors. Once ready for harvest, gourds need to be dried in order to be able to be used used for crafting. During harvest you will notice your gourds are heavy. That is because they are 90% water. Here is how to dry them properly so they don't rot.
How to Dry Gourds
During the curing process, this water evaporates out through the porous woody shell and causes molding to occur on the surface. For this reason it is advisable to keep the gourds outside.
People allergic to mold should be very careful when handling gourds as they are drying. Also be aware of the allergic reactions that can occur when cleaning gourds. It would be a good idea to use gloves or enlist the aid of someone without allergies to clean them for you.
The drying times for gourds can vary depending on size and variety of gourd. Weather conditions also play a part in the drying process. You may be waiting six weeks to a year for the gourd to be fully dried.


Don't worry about letting your gourds out in freezing weather. If they are good, mature gourds, it will not hurt them. If they are damaged by freezing they wouldn't have been worth much for crafting anyway.


It is best to keep gourds off the ground to allow for air circulation around them. If your gourd goes soft during the drying process it wasn't mature enough and you can toss it out. Sometimes they will dry but you can poke your finger through the shell. Those might as well be tossed also.
Gourds are dry when they feel lighter, seeds shake, and the mold on the outside is all dry. There are times when it is difficult to determine if the gourd is truly dry because not all seeds will be loose and some shells may be very thick and therefore still feel heavy.
Experience with gourds will help to determine when they are dry. You may have been told to drill or poke a small hole in the gourd to help speed the drying process. There are two thoughts on this. One is that it is not a good idea because they will attract mold or fungus and cause decay but yet I've just heard from others that it helped when cleaning the inside of the gourd. Maybe you can try it both ways just to be sure you don't lose your whole crop.
One way you may want to speed up the drying process is called green cleaning or scraping. A few weeks after harvesting the outer skin begins to loosen. You can tell by the change of color. At this time, take the outer skin off by scraping with a dull knife. This will dry the gourd faster and leave a lighter surface that is great for woodburning.
One word of caution: if you are not sure of the thickness of the gourd, this may not be a good process. The speedy drying can cause cracking in the thinner shelled gourds. I found this out when I ruined lots of gourds by green cleaning!


A good book for all kinds of information about gourds is "The Complete Book of Gourd Craft" by Ginger Summit and Jim Widess. This is the first gourd book I purchased and it really gave me a good start.
You will learn the different kinds of gourds, their historical use, how to grow and craft with them. It shows you with plenty of pictures the different techniques that can be used on gourds and has a few tutorials.
Martha's Gourds creates unique items using gourds. They are all crafted and designed by Martha Bloom and can be anything from art on bowls to sculptures of animals, whether domestic or wild. After many years of just concentration on gourd craft, watercolor and dot art have been added also.
Gourds need a long growing season, so in our colder climate that means starting them indoors. Once ready for harvest, gourds need to be dried in order to be able to be used used for crafting. During harvest you will notice your gourds are heavy. That is because they are 90% water. Here is how to dry them properly so they don't rot.
How to Cut Gourds
A dilemma that happens to all new gourd crafters and also some veteran gourd crafters is finding the right tools for the job. Let's face it. We can't just drive to our local tool center and walk to the gourd crafting aisle. That would be nice but we may as well wake up from that dream.
The tools I am referring to here would be what you need if you want to cut your gourd.
What works best you ask?
Hacksaw
My first cutting tool was a hacksaw my husband got for me. It got the job done but was hard to use and would frequently get stuck in the gourd. Basically all you could do was cut the top off the gourd.
Next I used a round hacksaw blade. It didn't have a handle and it was a little hard on the hands. I could cut out shapes with this blade and that was one thing I liked about it. If you fixed it up with a handle to make it easier to use it would probably be a pretty nice little cutting tool.
But what if you wanted a bowl with a lid? You would need a very thin blade for that job. So I turned to the Exacto saw blade. It worked well but the blade is weak and I broke a few. It's also tiring on the hand and I wouldn't want to cut very many that way.


Mini Jigsaw
The fastest and easiest way though is with a mini jigsaw. I have the Microlux made by MicroMark. It is a lifesaver for me. I just zip through my gourd projects with it. You are talking a lot more money to go this way and unless you are really cranking out gourd projects you may feel it's not worth the cost.
There is also the Proxxon brand jigsaws that can be used for more heavy duty work like cutting through a really thick gourd.
You can use the gourd saw to easily cut out shapes, such as these butterflies, in your gourd. Also works great for cutting the top off for a bowl.
Beware of Gourd Dust
When cutting gourds you should use a respirator to protect your lungs from the gourd dust.
Find Cleaned, Dried, and Painted Gourds on the PA Wilds Marketplace!
Find a wide variety of gourds with different shapes, colors, and uses on ShopThePAWilds.com from Martha's Gourds.