First shoots of Spring

Tips on Germinating Gourd Seeds

Gourd seeds can be difficult to germinate and I recommend the following tips to help you start your gourd plants:

1. Here in the South where it gets warm fairly early, we are able to plant directly in the ground with much success around the end of April. If, however, you live in a colder climate, I do not recommend planting gourd seeds directly in the ground. In many cases, the soil may not be warm enough or there may be too much or not enough moisture for the gourd seeds to germinate.
2. I recommend starting your gourd seeds indoors in a planting soil medium.
3. For the hard-to-start seeds, you can place the gourd seeds between moist, but not wringing wet, paper towels. Place the seeds and towels in a ziplock bag and place everything on a heating mat. You can purchase one on amazon.com for between $20 and $35. I have also used the top of an electronic device such as a satellite receiver or TV that stays warm constantly and this has worked. You just need to be careful not to cover all the ventilation holes that would overheat your electronic device. Also, you would be limited to the number of seeds you could germinate in this manner.
4. For the hard-to-start seeds, you can clip the edges of the larger gourd seeds to help the germination process.
5. After the seeds have germinated, place them in planting soil medium into 4” or 5” peat pots. We recommend using the peat or manure pots that can be planted directly into the ground. Gourds do not tolerate well their roots being disturbed.

Our online store selling our gourd seeds

Here is the link to our online store through localharvest.org where you can purchase our Giant African Bushel gourd seeds.
http://www.localharvest.org/alex-farm-M42668

Photos of my gourd designs

Here are some of my gourds that I have grown and decorated.

Preparing the fields

Today Davide plowed up three fields where we will be planting this year's gourds. It was a beautiful day - temperatures in the 70's--not bad for a late February day!

So much of our land here is typical Georgia red clay, but this field is rich, brown soil from years of composted oak leaves and grasses. Beautiful!

Squirrels

The squirrels have discovered that there is food inside my gourds! I can't leave them outside anymore, lest they all be gnawed. This all happened overnight!

Our farm in Molena, Georgia - about 70 miles south of Atlanta

Some photos of our farm. We have 120 acres that has been in my family since 1970. Back then I didn't appreciate it like I do now since I was always a "city girl". Now it's hard to imagine ever moving back to the city again!

Occasionally it snows here...maybe once a year!

Our stray that we rescued from the streets of Costa Rica. We just call her "Puppy"...