Do-it-yourself Dishes And Other Crafts From Lagenaria. Growing, Harvesting, Drying, Decor. Photo

2023 Author: Ava Durham | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-24 11:58

One day my neighbor and I were drinking coffee on her veranda, and my attention was drawn to an object dangling like a decorative piece under the roof. It looked like a pot-bellied bottle with a long and narrow neck. I immediately realized that it was a bottle gourd - Lagenaria. But the first time I saw it was not in the picture, so I asked why they were using it. “Before, when there were no plastic pipes and other devices, we used it to pour wine and brandy into barrels,” a neighbor replied. I went home with the seeds of Lagenaria and since then I have been growing it on my site. In this article I will tell and show you how I make bottle pumpkin dishes.

Content:

• Using lagenaria
• Features of growing lagenaria
• When to collect bottle pumpkin for dishes
• How to properly dry a bottle gourd?
• How do I shape bottle gourd dishes and utensils?
• Lagenaria painting

Using lagenaria

In the modern world, we are used to an abundance of all kinds of glass and plastic dishes. But our ancestors with you did not have all this! Glass was expensive and plastic didn't exist at all. Of course, there were an abundance of earthenware vessels, but, in addition, the bottle gourd, or Lagenaria, was a great help in the economy.

The plant's name "Lagenaria" comes from the word "lagoena" - an ancient Roman vessel, earthen or glass, which was used to store wine or other liquids. Due to the shape of the fruits of this plant, similar in appearance to bottles, it received another - bottle gourd. There are also many other popular names for Lagenaria, because it is one of the very old and widespread cultures on the planet.

Since ancient times, these pumpkins have been used to make dishes of various shapes. Buckets were made from it so that you could draw water. Or a vessel to store liquid in it. Exquisite vases, all kinds of kitchen utensils and home decorations were made from bottle gourd.

Water in such vessels does not deteriorate for a long time, as well as in clay pots, but unlike them, pumpkin containers are much lighter.

By the way, in Africa, housewives still prefer to use pumpkin dishes, because the water in such dishes stays cold longer.

In addition to household purposes and interior decoration, these pumpkins were used to make musical instruments to this day.

It is interesting that in a green (not ripe) form, lagenaria is edible. It is cooked like a squash or a pumpkin and tastes like a cross between the two. And thanks to its rich vitamin and mineral composition, lagenaria has found application even in folk medicine.

Now, of course, this plant is more and more decorative. Moreover, not only after decorative utensils are made from it, but also during the cultivation process.

Features of growing lagenaria

Lagenaria, even without fruits, looks very nice, has dense abundant greenery and white flowers. And it may well play the role of a decorative screen in the garden.

Lagenaria seeds should be allowed to lie down for 3-4 years after harvesting, then their germination will be better. For the rest, this is a rather unpretentious plant, it grows as easily as any other pumpkin. Loves a lot of light and warmth, as well as moist and fertile soil.

Lagenaria is growing so well and quickly that recently a watermelon has been grafted onto it, for the latter to ripen quickly.

And when it's time to harvest, the fun begins. There is a place for fantasy to roam. After all, the fruits of Lagenaria can be very different: they are small, only a few tens of grams by weight, and large - by a kilogram. In shape, you won't find two identical pumpkins either. These will be spherical, pear-shaped, cylindrical, ovoid, etc.

Therefore, I really love to make dishes from all this wealth. Perhaps crockery is a loud saying, but home decoration is for sure.

When to collect bottle pumpkin for dishes

Lagenaria is usually harvested in October, although this depends on the variety. Pumpkins that are late harvested are best stored and dried. To determine maturity, you can try to press on the skin with your fingernail. If it is firm and no trace remains, then the pumpkins are ripe. Although, in my opinion, to determine the maturity of a pumpkin it is better to focus on the stem and leaves, they will completely dry by the time they ripen.

Freshly harvested pumpkins themselves can be a decoration for your home or summer cottage, but they will not last long. After 1-2 months, they will rot. Therefore, in order for the lagenaria to please you for a long time, the fruits must be properly dried.

How to properly dry a bottle gourd?

You can dry bottle pumpkins as they are, without peeling them off the skin, and then simply varnish or even leave them in their natural form. For example, my neighbors do just that. Do not clean, leave it hanging on the veranda until the seeds thunder in them. But in this way, you can dry only ideal fruits, without a single spot, those that hung high and did not touch the ground.

At the same time, during the collection of such fruits, you need to be very careful: mature lagenaria pumpkins, while they are not dry, are not recommended to touch at all with your hands, since the thin skin can be damaged, and an infection will penetrate there. The pumpkin will start to rot and may begin to lose its color. It is better to take Lagenarii by the tail with their hands in gardening gloves. Then they are hung up somewhere in a ventilated room or outside. The main thing is to be dry and warm. It is important that the fruits are not exposed to direct sunlight or rain.

And if such a pumpkin needs to be taken somewhere and dried there, then in such cases it is wrapped in paper and calmly taken in the trunk of a car. The main thing is that there is no damage during transportation. The drying process usually takes about three weeks.

To make sure the pumpkins are dry, shake them. If the seeds are thundering in them, then the pumpkin is dry enough.

But this is ideal and, unfortunately, not for me. In life, it turns out that some fruits, through an oversight, may end up on the ground. Do not throw them away? They work too. Therefore, I chose for myself the second method of drying lagenaria.

I collect pumpkins, as usual, without gloves (I'm not afraid to damage the protective layer), since my pumpkins grow on a fence, and some are hanging, and some are growing somewhere under the fence. I collect everything. I spread it out on the veranda, let it dry for a week.

And then I clean them with a knife. How to peel carrots or young potatoes. I will bind. The top of the pumpkin is covered with a very thin skin, similar in consistency to soap or wax. This coating prevents them from drying out quickly. Plus, mold and rot also appear here. Peels off easily.

Then I leave them to dry further, now they dry much faster and do not deform during the drying process. In addition, in the future I want to paint my pumpkins, and the paint will lay better on the cleaned surface.

How do I shape bottle gourd dishes and utensils?

The bottle gourd needs to be fully ripe and well dried. It should become completely solid, as if made of wood, and then it is already possible to form something out of it.

I use a small hand-held jigsaw, files and whatever I can find to shape the object I want.

You can cut a little from the wide part, and you get a bucket for scooping up water. And you can make a large rounded hole in the wide part on one or both sides, and you get a house for a bird or a flower pots, or a candlestick. A large pumpkin will make a vase. And small, not very successful, you can cut saucers out of them and use, for example, as an artistic palette.

If you start cutting the pumpkin immediately after cleaning, when it is not dry enough, then later such dishes begin to deform. Lagenaria at this stage is relatively soft and easy to do something with. You can simply cut it with a kitchen knife, as if you were cutting a very thick cardboard.

By the way, the inner, white layer of lagenaria, after drying, resembles something like styrofoam. Do not scrape it off, especially if you plan on storing water in the lagenaria. Thanks to this layer, the water does not deteriorate and does not heat up.

Lagenaria painting

After I have already got something similar to the dishes, you can decorate it. I use professional art paints for this. Acrylic canvas paints fit very well on cleaned, dried pumpkin. I just apply a drawing, an ornament, whatever I want. I really love the Mezen painting. It is as if it was made for such dishes. Acrylic paints dry quickly in less than an hour. It depends on the thickness of the applied layer.

And then the bottle pumpkin needs to be varnished, or you can leave it that way. But for greater safety, it is better to protect it. After all, varnish prevents its destruction from dirt and moisture. In addition, it gives a more decorative look to your product. And such a pumpkin will serve for a long time. Or you may even want to give someone a vase, grown and made by yourself.

If you want to use such utensils for food purposes, such as a water jug, for example, then it is better not to use any chemicals, but simply dry the lagenaria well. After all, if it goes bad soon, then in a year you will have bottle gourds again and make yourself new dishes.