Getting Your Gourd...Seeds

A while back, I wrote about growing and preserving bottle gourds - today, I want to share how to harvest the seeds.  I know it seems fairly straightforward, but since Robin found a few decorative gourds at Goodwill, some that still had seeds in them, I decided to do some seed saving.

Unless you're going to make a ladle or a birdhouse, it's probably best to make a small hole at the bottom of the gourd to collect the seeds.  You need the hole to be large enough for the seeds to fit through, but not enough to ruin whatever you may want to make with the gourd in the future.  I got out my electric drill and used a 9/16 inch bit - these are larger bits that look more like Neptune's trident than the spiral ones we're used to seeing.

I wasn't sure if this would crack or break the gourd when I drilled into it, but, almost without exception, I ended up with very round holes.  On one of the gourds a small piece chipped off the edge of the hole, but it was pretty small.

Once there is a hole in the gourd, it's pretty simple after that.  I put a bag over the gourd and shook the seeds out.  That's it.  Once it's empty you can use it for your craft project, whether it is a birdhouse, a ladle or carving designs into it, like the ones we have.  There are so many choices.