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margaret roach, head gardener

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warts and all: the ‘bule’ gourd gang

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I SEE PERPETUAL, DEEP LAUGHTER IN GOURDS. For that reason, all are welcome at my place; in fact, one moved in with me a few winters ago and hasn’t budged since. Meet ‘Bule’ (pronounced boo-lay). With seed-catalog season imminent, it seems like a good time for introductions to such great (if oddball) botanical companions. Ready to get acquainted?

I’m a pumpkin, squash and gourd lover bigtime, but this bumpy-faced creature is a particular favorite among the many gourds I’ve known and grown. ‘Nest Egg,’ whom I’ve introduced on A Way to Garden before, is another particular heartthrob.

Unlike ‘Nest Egg,’ which is more closely related to summer squash and those colorful mixed gourds of autumn farmstands, ‘Bule’ and its similarly warty but longer-shaped cousin ‘Verruqueuse’ or ‘African Warty’ are in another genus and species altogether. The former are Cucurbita pepo subspecies ovifera, New World types with squash-like yellow flowers. My darling ‘Bule’ is Lagenaria siceraria, originally hailing from Africa and bearing beautiful white flowers on very ambitious vines.

L. siceraria includes the familiar bottle gourd; the genus name Lagenaria derives from the Greek and Latin words for flask. My guy looks more like a giant apple (and in fact ‘Bule’ is called the ‘Blistered Apple’ in some nations, I have read).

Speaking of reading: Yes, I went down the digital rabbit hole again the last few days. That’s what happens when I go to post a simple photo of a plant I like and a little information about it. I can’t help myself, and I quickly start reading, and reading, and reading. Next time I look up, it’s days later, and I’ve studied gourds in philately (like the African stamp at left), gourd poetry, gourds in archaeological digs and gourd crafting that would make Martha proud.

You can order ‘Bule’ (the cured guy in the center of the photo below) from Territorial Seed, or perhaps ‘African Warty’ from Sand Hill Preservation Center, which is a.k.a. ‘Verruqueuse’ (flanking ‘Bule’ in the picture) at Baker Creek, where they have ‘Bule,’ too. Or you will be able to order any moment now, once the 2009 catalogs are all officially ready, that is.

bule2
Can’t possibly wait till next fall for a somewhat-comical constant companion? Order a ready-to-move-in cured one, warty or otherwise, by mail from Wuertz, an Arizona farm that produces more than 200,000 fruits a year. Yup: two-hundred-thousand reasons to laugh on one single piece of land. My idea of heaven.


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8 comments
November 30, 2008

comments

  1. Johanna says

    November 30, 2008 at 2:20 pm

    I just love the bumpy, warty, odd colored gourds! A pumpkin farm up the road from me tries new ones each year; I’m always happily surprised to see what they have on display when I go for an October outing.

    And now I’m reminded to relocate my sagging pumpkins (once frozen, always forever sagging!) before they disintegrate and my front walk becomes a pumpkin patch next year. Not that it would be such a terrible thing…

    –Johanna

    Reply
  2. Amy says

    November 30, 2008 at 11:16 pm

    The bumpy, warty gourds have so much personality don’t they? I would love to try growing some of these. My children would probably enjoy the experience too.

    Reply
  3. chris says

    December 1, 2008 at 7:01 pm

    @ amy, take it from me, your kids aren’t going to go for these gourds….unless they like coodies and such

    actually, methinks most adults will need a shot of ole johnnie before they handle one!

    Reply
  4. margaret says

    December 1, 2008 at 9:55 pm

    At least Johanna and Amy understand me…Chris, well, we hear the beat of a different drummer but are happy to have “met,” anyhow, right Chris? :) What do you mean COOTIES? All my gourds have had their cootie shots, thank you very much.

    Reply
  5. dawndol says

    December 2, 2008 at 1:44 pm

    Hi, Margaret! Excellent gourds! Here’s my biggest concern – are they delicious? Can we eat them? :) I am looking for gourds to grow next year (in the Pac. NW) and definitely prefer interesting, but they must must must make a good soup!

    Reply
  6. margaret says

    December 2, 2008 at 2:23 pm

    Hello, Dawn. I don’t think you’ll be cooking up anything even remotely savory with gourds. Stick with their cousins the summer or winter squash, not gourds. The catalogs I listed in the story have good selections of all, and some of the squashes are quite attractive (though not so long-lasting decoratively).

    Reply
  7. dawndol says

    December 2, 2008 at 4:27 pm

    Ha ha! I have revealed my garden noob status (as opposed to garden gnome…) and am delighted to have learned yet another thing from your blog! No gourd soup for me! :)

    Reply
  8. Mouse4 says

    December 5, 2008 at 6:52 pm

    The catalog season is not imminent at my house, but rather has already arrived as of two weeks ago. Current count…three. Ah Bliss!

    Reply

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Podcast: Soups, Soups & More Soups

I’VE FOLLOWED a vegetarian diet for decades, but it wasn’t until just a few years ago that I mastered a really good vegetable soup. Now I’m learning variations on vegetable-based soups, plus ones with beans and even ideas for mushroom soups, too–all thanks to Alexandra Stafford and these recipes. (Stream it below, read the transcript or subscribe free.)

https://robinhoodradioondemand.com/podcast-player/6211/vegetable-soup-ideas-with-ali-stafford-november-5-a-way-to-garden-with-margaret-roach.mp3

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mad gardener, nature addict, award-winning writer & podcaster, rural resident, corporate dropout, creator of awaytogarden dot com and matching book.

Instagram post 2190297402408409324_444552553 Snow day. To be followed by a snow night. #awaytogarden #wavehillchairs
Instagram post 2177779417009402040_444552553 No matter that it was 11F and 17F on mornings this week; my lifelong companions and I are all tucked in, each in our respective offseason spots. Three giant pots of #cliviaminiata that are actually pieces of my long-gone grandmother’s original plant from many, many decades ago, love the offseason bright cold of the mudroom, and get no water till around the new year or so. They need a chill (under 50 but above 35) for about 40 days to trigger timely bloom in late winter/early spring (without it they will bloom whenever, later, like June or even summer). The #alocasia reacts to the cold of the mudroom by shutting down and going dormant and leafless, and then I’ll let it sleep till late winter, when I give it a drink to see if it awakens. That one sleeps and wakes on its own timetable because I do not have a proper spot for it (ideally warm, like 60 or 65 at least, and humid and bright...no can do the humid part here). We have been together probably 10 years anyhow, despite my shortcomings as a #plantparent . #alocasiaamazonica #clivias #houseplantsofinstagram #houseplants #awaytogarden
Instagram post 2172580656557749859_444552553 Gardener: “I raked all the leaves!” Nature: “Oh, really?” (Cue sound of demonic laughter from on high.)
Instagram post 2170506606641504178_444552553 I wanna tell you how it’s gonna be You’re gonna give your love to me I wanna love you night and day You know my love will not fade away Not fade away Nope. Not this #cotinus leaf’s fiery hot love at least. Like the 1957 #buddyholly song I first heard by #therollingstones in 1964, it keeps going. #awaytogarden #fallfoliage2019 #cotinusgrace #notfadeaway
Instagram post 2168987273989949378_444552553 “Jack Frost nipping at your, er, geraniums...” And here it comes.
Instagram post 2166837817953503284_444552553 Constant companions: If you want to keep good company all winter, grow some good keepers. My house is stuffed with piles of #cucurbita awaiting their time in the oven or soup kettle. Each one is a character, distinctive. On one chair in the mudroom two close cousins in #cucurbitamoschata — the horse collar-shaped one called ‘Tromboncino’ or ‘Tromboncino Rampicante’ snuggles with some ‘Butternut.’ The ‘Tromboncino’ are better eaten green and small as #zucchini but I can’t resist their eventual mad size and shape, big enough to wear around your neck. I use their meat for enriching vegetable stock; the ‘Butternut’ are far more rich and delicious. Seed respectively from sandhillpreservation.com #sandhillpreservationcenter and @turtle_tree_seed (whose ‘Butternut,’ selected for “lastingness” for decades, will keep and keep into next spring or more). #wintersquash #awaytogarden #goodkeeper #cucurbitaceae
Instagram post 2162565040882902064_444552553 Furry fall friend: I look forward to crossing paths with this woolly caterpillar of the #giantleopardmoth this time of year, when its fiery intersegmental bands and plush coat seem to be just the right autumn-into-winter look. Miraculously this tiny animal will overwinter in a woodpile or in the leaf litter, even here in the North, building up a concentration of antifreeze (glycerol I think?) in its cells before the worst weather begins to avoid disaster. (Reminds me of the super-hardy #woodfrog who does similarly. Such heroes.) Swipe to see a beat-up pic of the adult moth, tattered with scales missing at its wing margins, but still dramatic. Unlike various spine-covered caterpillars that can sting you, this one’s hairs (or setae) won’t, but he will roll up tight if touched, in self-defense. I am in awe of such complex strategies of survival, I am. #mothsofinstagram #caterpillars #awaytogarden #hypercompescribonia #hypercompe
Instagram post 2161992098629435854_444552553 Beans are life. I mean, not only do I live on them daily (as I have as a vegetarian for 40+ years) but each one is a seed, a living embryo, a distinct and gorgeous little DNA miracle. I have been inspired by the hashtag #31daysofbeans by @lukasvolger lately, loving watching someone unknown to me (um, who shares my oatmeal thing too apparently...also see his #28daysofoatmeal) dish up the #phaseolus. We both admire bean ambassador Steve Sando @rancho_gordo and this photo might be my fave bean of all that I “met” via Steve years back, big and flat and chestnutty ‘Christmas Lima.’ My advice: don’t wait till Dec. 25 to dig in.
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Welcome! I’m Margaret Roach, a leading garden writer for 25 years—at ‘Martha Stewart Living,’ ‘Newsday,’ and in three books. I host a public-radio podcast; I also lecture, plus hold tours at my 2.3-acre Hudson Valley (NY) Zone 5B garden, and always say no to chemicals and yes to great plants.

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