Frequently Asked Questions:

Q: How long will it be before my order is shipped?
A: Typically orders are filled within 24hrs.

Q: When do you gather your gourds?
A: We do not gather any of our gourds until the frost has killed the vines completely. Most of the time we do not gather until late Nov. or Dec.

Q: How do you clean your gourds?
A: I soften the outer layer by either placing them out in the rain for several hours or I wrap them up in a large peice of plastic after I have wet them with a water hose and let the sun create heat to moisten the skin. I wash them with a stainless steel pot scrubier in warm soapy water. I rinse throughly and let dry.

Q: How long do you let a gourd dry after washing before crafting it?
A: I usually let any gourd I wash dry for at least 24 hrs. in a dry, ventilated area before I craft with it.

Q: When do you plant your gourds?
A: In south central Kentucky where we live, the last frost is usually early May. We have our seed started in pots in a green house and have them scheduled where the plant will be ready for the field about the middle of May.

Q: How long after the first leaves appear do you leave the plant in the starter pots?
A: We try to schedule them so the plant will not have to stay in the starter pot any longer than 2 weeks. The plant seems to get root bound and starts to go backwards in growth any longer than 2 to 2-1/2 weeks.

Q: Where do we buy our seed?
A: Because we only plant pure seed each year, we buy from the list of seed providers listed in the Kentucky Gourd Society Gourd Vine Magazine.

Q: Why do we use pure seed?
A: To obtain pure seed you have to buy seed from someone that hand pollinates the bloom and then protects the bloom from other pollinators with a protective cover. If the bloom gets cross-pollinated then the next years crop's shaped can not be guarnteed to be true.

Q: Can seed that have been crossed pollinated be used?
A: Yes, They will do just fine, the only draw back is that you sometimes get very odd shaped gourds, but I use all shapes and sizes. But being a commerical grower, we need a guarntee that we will have the pure shapes that are needed by other gourd crafters.