Check out Gourdlandia's YouTube channel for gourd growing and crafting how-to's!
Our Dream of A Giant Gourd Trellis has Come True!
Thank you for helping to make it so!
Update 6/11/24:
Between GoFund Me and Venmo donations, and some just tucked into my pockets while I wasn't looking, not to mention the Farm to Fork grant from Visit Ithaca, and with much gratitude to my recently departed dear Aunt Jackie, the Giant Gourd is fully funded! And it's beautiful (see below). The vines are covering it, and gourds are hanging a-plenty! Thanks very much to all who contributed. We counted the seeds in the jar yesterday, there were 1,774! Steve Law, the blacksmith's buddy, was the closest guesser (at 1,764), so he has won a gourd lamp. Save the date, Mark Teece (The British Blacksmith) will be showing people how to make tendrils, September 29th, at Gourdlandia. Come wrangle some iron into curlicues!!
​
Twelve feet wide, ten feet tall, and dripping with gourds! Mark Teece, the British Blacksmith, built this big beautiful structure at his forge in Kirkville NY. The plan was for it to be done in time for the gourds to start climbing at the end of May (gourds just wanna have fun!), and Mark accomplished it!
This is Mark Teece, The British Blacksmith
When I cold called Mark to see if he wanted to make a Giant Gourd Trellis, he said yes!!! He is working on it at his forge in Kirkville, NY where he also teaches classes - check them out!
We got a Grant!
It's the Agriculinary Tourism Farm to Fork Microgrant. Many thanks to Tompkins County Convention & Visitors Bureau for promising us $2,000 for this project.
Make a wrought iron tendril for the trellis!
Sunday September 29th, 1-5pm, at Gourdlandia! Mark will help visitors forge tendrils to be added to the trellis... come try your hand at tendril-wrangling! You can do it! We'll have music, snacks, and necklace-making, for the kids. A nice little celebration for the tenth anniversary of Gourdlandia!
This is how a blacksmith looks at gourd vines:
