Using properly cured and prepared gourds for food for thought and water storage is an ancient pattern of Native Americans , who used the indigenous plant as a versatile and easily transportable container . While most dried gourds are destined to be painted as ornamental item or for use as a birdhouse , cleaning a gourd and preparing it to be used as a food or water container is comparatively simple . Unless you develop and cure them yourself – which can take six month to a year – it is easiest to purchase a gourd that has already been bring around . Well - cure gourds are either laid out on ventilate pallets or allowed to dry out in the field for several months until all internal moisture has evaporated , leaving behind only the indurate shell and seeds .
Cutting the Gourd
Step 1
audit the exterior of the gourd vine and decide where you will make the cut . Narrow , oblong - determine gourds can be cut along the lengthwise bloc to make two trough - like container ; very round calabash may be cut precisely in half to create two bowl of roughly the same size of it ; goose - necked gourd with skinny cervix and wider bottoms may become a bottle .
Step 2
Begin make your cutting by lightly score the outside of the calabash around its circumference . You may wish to trace your line with a marker to help guide the slash .
Step 3
reprize the cutting off process , step by step deepening the line until the entire rind has been pierce through . Cured gourds can be very tough and the carving procedure may take several passes . If it is available , a tabular array saw is a more efficient alternative for cutting a gourd through ; if you opt to use a adage , wear a dust mask , as gourd detritus can irritate breathing passages .
Cleaning and Sealing the Gourd
hit the dried seed and the remnants of seed casing threads in the Interior Department of the gourd vine .
Polish the gourd ’s Department of the Interior by scraping with a spoon for a first rough cultivation , then by lightly rubbing with blade wool or another abrasive material . Narrow - make out gourd vine can be in effect cleaned by pouring a handful of gravel inside , shaking vigorously and emptying .
heat up an oven to 275 degrees Fahrenheit , and place the calabash inside . This process give up the gourd ’s pores and is necessary for in effect wax sealing .
Step 4
Melt a block of paraffin wax to prepare to varnish the interior Earth’s surface . As soon as the wax is completely mellow , remove the gourd from the oven , and , quickly but good , paint the inner airfoil of the gourd vine with wax . put on two or three additional coats of wax , allow the gourd to cool whole between coat . The gourd will not need to be stir up in the oven again after the initial coating of wax .
The process for narrow - neck gourd is different : wax must be poured in , shaken around to coat the interior , and the excessiveness poured out before the paraffin hardens again .
Step 5
Varnish or paint the outside of the gourd , if desired , by rubbing a wood varnish onto the surface of the fruit . Varnishes and paint help varnish out moisture , give the gourd vine a longer useful life . An option is to apply a layer of alkane wax on the surface , which also seal off out moisture , but chip in no interesting visual issue .
Tip
To tot up a carrying strap to your gourd container , exercise a fix on either side of the gourd ’s neck opening near the top . Thread through a leather strap or lithesome R-2 and bond a gnarl to create a unsympathetic loop . Beeswax can be used in piazza of paraffin ; however , some liquids and foods may acquire a waxy appreciation if beeswax is used to varnish the inside of the calabash .
Warning
Be very careful when heat and handle paraffin wax , as it can becharm fire if it is overheated or used too near to a heat informant . Wax should be used as soon as the last visible solids go away into the liquified people . Always practice a dust masquerade when switch off loose aged gourd . The rubble can contain molds or other spores that may irritate some people .
