YAY! My organic gourds I grew last summer are finally drying out! At first I thought it might be a total fail project cause they were molding so much (part of the natural drying process) and I didn't have enough vinegar on hand to wipe them down. I decided to wing it nature style 100% and stuck them outside to dry on their own - rain, snow and sun. While a few got a lil' soggy when the snow melted - a bunch are nearly bone dry so I went ahead and started to play around with turning them into cute birdhouses!
First thing I had to do was learn to punch a hole into the side carefully without damaging the gourd... of course I just went ahead and used my voodoo magic powers to blow a freakin' hole right into the thing, so powerful a blast it blew all the seeds and scum right out without me having to get a single finger dirty.
Just kidding.Actually I used a relatively sharp knife to stick into the center of the hole I wanted to make and then slowly twisted in in full circles.
After twisting it in enough circles to create a hole large enough to get some leverage I used the knife to widen and smooth the edges of the hole.
Once the hole was about the right size, I shook out any extra seeds or goop left on the inside. The super dry ones only had dry seeds falling out - but a few of my iffy ones I was trying to save had some moist gunk... it kinda stunk but i put my fingers in anyway and pulled it out. (Like halloween pumpkin carving but smells different).
I ended up doing about 5 birdhouses and two bowl shaped containers so far - but before I decide whether I want to decorate them(wood burning tool? natural paints?), I want to let them dry out some more by the wood stove during this next cold snowy week. I also want to do two bat houses with the others still needing to dry. :) Bats eat mosquitoes!
Oh, I really love them, bunchie bunches alot. 
XoXo
