Guide to Gourds: Angled & Edible
Thai Angled Loofas are from the Orient and have been called the best tasting of all fried vegetables by folks in the Ozarks. The fruit can be used raw in salads, boiled, stuffed, or pickled and is also great in soups.
Dishcloth or Luffa have very ornamental vines and produce clusters of yellow blossoms with dark green foliage. This variety has to be started in a hotbed. The dried interiors of these guords are a hot commodity and are grown in Florida.
Tennessee Dancing or Spinning Guords are tiny, bottle-shaped, green and white striped, and turn tan when dry.
Maranka (Caveman’s Club) are long dipper-type guords which are very knobby and unusual looking.
Speckled Swan are thick, dipper-shaped fruit that resemble swans with their necks curved. These are great for craft projects. These gourds are large and have speckles when they’re green.
Japanese Nest Egg Guord were very popular in the 1800’s. These guords are the size and shape of a hen’s egg and are white in color.
Orange Gourds resemble very closely a ripe orange in size and color and are a rare heirloom.
Small Apple Guords are unique and apple-shaped. These are very popular with crafters.
Birdhouse Gourds are popular for making bottles, birdhouses, and other useful items.
Small Spoon Guords are brightly colored, orange and green striped, small and spoon-shaped, and make excellent fall decorations.
Small Warted Mix come in many shapes and colors and are great for market growers.
Bushel Baskets are huge, round guords which can be used for all kinds of art work and storage containers. Night flowering plants attract huge moths. These gourds have very long vines and the fruit has a thick, hard shell.
The Verruquese Africaine (African Warty) is a unique gourd which produces small fruit covered with warts. These are very unusual looking, rare, and hard to find.
The Extra Long Handled Dipper have very long handles (up to 3′ long) with a 5″-8″ bowl at the bottom. These can be used for water dippers and crafts.
Calabash are large, bottle-type guords which are great for making crafts, water jugs, and more.
The Big Apple Guords look exactly like giant apples. Go figure. These are very popular as crafts and fall displays and can be painted red or made into birdhouses. These would be great to sell at fall markets.
Bule Guords are a rare French heirloom shaped like the Big Apple Guord which are covered in attractive warts. These are very ornamental and make great market items.
Dipper Guords have long handles and are just right for making water or feed dippers, as well as arts and crafts projects. Dippers are also very easy to grow.
Thai Bottle Guords are easy to grow, bottle-shaped, and are great picked small, stir-fried, boiled, or in soup. Tha Bottles are used much like common zucchini and are very easy to grow. They have good disease resistance as well.
The Serpente Di Sicilla are an imported selection from Italy. The fruit are light green, long, slender, and very tender and delicious, with a very rich flavor. In Italy, these are steamed, sauteed, stuffed, or baked. This variety is great for specialty and Oriental markets.
Cucuzzi are long and best for eating when they are 12″ or less. These are tasty cooked like summer squash or eggplant. The fruit looks like giant green beans. Long vines are easier to grow than squash.
