Gourds = Birdhouses....

Today I made a birdhouse out of one of the dinosaur gourds that we grew last year.  This is the only one that has totally dried out of the 6 or so that we harvested.  It's hanging out near the pool deck, so hopefully we'll be able to watch a little bird nesting this spring.

 All cleaned up and scrubbed....

Hole drilled in the front, insides shaken out, and hung by a wire!

Planning to make several more with the birdhouse gourds that grew last year -- I have to clean these up.  Interesting how as the gourds dry and cure, they get a black mold on them that, when its cleaned off, leaves the most beautiful designs on the gourd.  I leave these out on the potting shed table all winter and just leave them to see how they do.  A few do rot and have to be thrown out, but most of them cure just fine.

 This one is still dirty with black mold all over it.

And how they look after being washed.  The one on the right has been completely cleaned, and soaked in bleach water.  

I've got three of these to hang up tomorrow, but I think I'll paint one of them, just to give it a try. There are some beautiful examples all over the web.  We'll see how it goes!