Wow! Ms. Kitt and the kids at Baltimore Montessori Public Charter School crafted some amazing rattles from last years harvest of Egg Gourds.
Just yesterday we planted some heirloom pumpkins, speckled gourds, and a giant gourd mix in our raised bed planters. We are well on our way to a new season with the project, with the support of Ms. Kitt, BMPCS, and a past Neighborhood Greening grant from the Parks & People Foundation.
Wow, today we harvested our fall crop of Nest Egg, Snake and Swan Gourds. Ms. Kitt and the kids gathered together and learned about this multi-year project, and the cycle of gourd sowing, nurturing, harvesting, crafting, and seed stewardship.
Kids learned about how many cultures use gourds as implements, decorations and musical instruments. We all sang “Follow the Drinking Gourd,” recounting how slaves once sought their freedom by following the Drinking Gourd (Big Dipper) north to freedom. Afterward, we went out to the chicken run and cut our fruit and then pulled the old climbing vines from the high playground fence. Pushing along a wheelbarrow to the composter, we loaded up the tumbler to break the organic matter down for a new batch of rich earth.
When our job was done, we returned to the school for warm apple cider. Sitting in a circle, kids talked about what they learned from the process and what they were feeling thankful for.
Over the winter the fruit will dry, and in spring we will craft shakers, sculptures and bird houses. Ms. Kitt and I are really looking forward to crafting with the same group of children. Thanks to UMBC, Parks and People Foundation and Baltimore Montessori Public Charter School for supporting Gourd Season.
We’ve got some fruit, after a very hot and periodically dry summer. The Cannonball and Snake gourds have been productive, but the Loofah and Birdhouse plantings have failed to fruit. Plenty of flowers and bees, so I’m still trying sort out why. One guess is that we need a good bit more space between the “productive” plants and the “sterile” plants. Unproductive plant pollination could have occurred.
If you are a gourd guru, and can guess, please leave a comment or email me at: timothy dot nohe at gmail dot com.
One happy surprise… the school chickens have been cooling in the shade of the ground creeping Cannonball gourds. I’ll try to get a shot so that you can see the chooks shading themselves when we have a broiler of a day in the city.
Kids from Ms. Betsey’s class helped me to fabricate some bamboo trellises to train up the gourd growing vines. This year our varieties include: Bird’s Nest, Loofah, Sanke, Bottle and Swan. Hoping for a summer of gentle rains and a long growing season through Fall. Pictures soon.
Today I worked with kids from Baltimore Montessori Public Charter School to build 4 new raised bed planters. We used prefabricated wood composite board “I” beams recycled at The Loading Dock, my favorite source for used building materials. We blended dirt from the kids’ seed start beds with a hefty helping of chicken manure supplied by the Montessori School’s chickens (thanks ladies!).
Tomorrow we plant a nice range of gourd and loofah seeds and build a trellis for each bed from bamboo felled during the big winter storms.
Last year we had trouble getting pollinated by insects in the city, but thanks to a Parks and People Neighborhood Greening Grant, we now have two very active hives established on the campus by Denzel Mitchell. Our worm composting program has also provided us with some terrific castings, so I’m optimistic about a good harvest in the Fall.
One of four planters, in relation to the bioswale.
The compost tumbler enriches our soil, with added contributions from the chickens that live in the bioswale.
A Neighborhood Greening Grant from the Parks and People Foundation supported our bees, and the bees will promote pollination of the gourds. Denzell Mitchell, bee keeper, chef, farmer for BMPCS maintains the colonies.
A planter fashioned from recycled wood composite “I” beam sections.
Ruskin with gourd seeds.
