Interview with Ginger Summit.
I want to thank Ms. Ginger Summit for her time and interest with the interview. We appreciate all that she has done for the gourd world and look forward to more. We wish her good health.
What inspired your interest in growing gourds?
Whenever you are crafting a gourd, you end up with a huge pile of seeds. Like many crafters, I wondered if they would actually grow if I planted them. The question was answered when lots of vines started popping out of my compost pile! After the first random crop, I began saving seeds of gourd shapes I particularly liked, so that I would have a handy supply of the gourds I most often used.
How large is your garden?
My house is on a little over an acre, in what used to be an old apricot orchard. The trees died out, and now I grow gourds in two areas. One area I have for the trellises, and the other is for gourds to just sprawl over and completely fill the ground. (If you have tried growing gourds, you know they can be very aggressive! They will climb anything, especially small bushes and trees that get in their way! I try to always pinch back the main vine stem to force the laterals (and therefore more female blossoms). But once the vines all begin to intertwine on the ground, it is hard to figure out what belongs to what. So I just enjoy the entire scene, and let Mother Nature have fun!
What states have strong growing conditions?
Most of the big gourd farms are in the states that have long growing seasons, such as California, and all the states in the south from east to west coast. Also, there are some lovely gourd farms in the Midwest, as far north as Chicago. The very first gourd association was in New England, and botanists in Boston experimented with gourd crops, so it really depends on the microclimates of each area.
What are the required growing conditions for gourds?
Gourds require lots of well-fertilized soil, lots of water, and lots of sun! Before planting, it is really important to make sure the soil is thoroughly enriched with manure, fertilizers and any other mulches that will provide all the basic nutrients to get the vines started. They usually have a pretty long growing season (100-120 days) from planting to harvest, so folks often get their seeds started inside just to get a jump on the season. They shouldn't be planted in the ground until it is consistently around 70 degrees, which sometimes is a real problem.
Is gourd crafting something anyone can learn?
One of the best things about gourd craft is that there is room for simply everyone, from the complete beginner to the very accomplished artist. As a former special education teacher, I have taken gourds to elementary schools and worked with at-risk groups of children. It is wonderful to see the thrill they experience making a simple project that they are proud of. And actually, gourds are very lovely with nothing done with them--just lightly polished and left alone or combined with other natural objects. People with talents in almost any craft area will find a new and exciting way to work with gourds--woodworkers like to carve the naturally wooden shapes, basketmakers use the gourds as the foundation for imaginative baskets, potters enjoy working with pots that are already shaped, artists use the gourd as a round canvas, beaders and weavers find ways to embellish the surface with their collections--there is simply room for everyone to enjoy this craft.
What is the best way to get started in the gourd crafting?
One of the things I appreciate most about gourd craft is that you literally do not need to go out and get any special supplies to get started. It is extremely 'beginner-friendly'! Simple shoe polish, floor wax, wood stains and spray finishes--all look nice on the gourd shell. Keep in mind that anything that works on paper, leather or wood works on a gourd shell. For children I usually just have a big container of marking pens, beads, leather scraps, maybe some feathers or other natural objects, and they create lovely pieces. Very inexpensive tools available at any hardware store or craft shop, such as hobby knives and saws, woodburning tools, tapestry needles, leather awl, can be used to get started in other directions. There are some fancy tools, such as power saws, which can be used once the crafter has decided s/he needs to go further in this area, but for getting started, there is absolutely no need to make expensive investments. Everything you need is probably already in your kitchen, hobby corner or garage! What a relief, compared with so many other crafts that require a hefty investment just to get started.
Which gourds are the best for crafting?
This depends entirely on the type of craft you have in mind. The hardshell gourd (lagenaria siceria) comes in so many shapes and sizes, and the 'very best gourd' depends what craft you enjoy working on. Many beginning crafters like the bottle (hourglass shape), or birdhouse (triangular shape), but I often prefer the canteen (round flattish shape) because it usually has a very thick shell and is adaptable to many types of containers. Dipper gourds are always fun to play with too.
What do you consider the most 'fun' gourds to grow?
With school children, the ornamental gourds are definitely the easiest and 'most fun'--they come in lots of different shapes and colors, and have a relatively short growing season (70-90 days). They are so useful in the classroom in all parts of the curriculum (I used to be a teacher), and once they dry, ornamental gourds can make wonderful ornaments, either for the holidays, mothers day, etc.
But I really do love to watch the long handled dipper gourds. I have tried making knots in them, but they often break in the process, so now I just leave them alone, and admire them as they stretch down from the trellises.
Aside from the popular catalogs where should one look for good source for interesting gourd seeds? I would recommend any of the seed sources listed in the appendix of my books. More and more, seed distributors are discovering the popularity of this plant, and seeds are generally available in most seed collections and catalogs. The ones I have tested are very good as far as reliability and germination rate. If you want specific shapes and sizes, however, I recommend you contact one of the specialty seed providers listed with the American Gourd Society, or in my books.
Do you grow anything else in addition to gourds?
I always grow some summer vegetables, like squashes, salad fixings, tomatoes, etc. And I have my herb area. But for the past couple years I was so completely involved with the book writing that I really didn't have time for much gardening. (This past year, beginning June 1999, I have been dealing with cancer, which severely limited the time and energy I had for the garden).
What innovative gourd projects are you working on now?
Right now, the most innovating thing I'm working on is healing! I have a tumor in the bones at the base of the brain, and have been in treatments since last summer. The treatments are over now, but we won't do any tests to find out what is actually happening with the tumors until November. Until then, the doctors have warned to stay completely away from all dust, fumes, etc. that may be involved with gourd projects. I continue to give lots of talks and presentations, sharing slides from gourds I have seen on my trips or in museums around the world, but I just am not working on gourd crafts for a while.
In what direction do you see gourd crafting headed in the future?
As gourd crafting gets more attention, I see more serious crafters and artists beginning to pursue this. For so many years, gourds were a novelty and were used for interesting but relatively simple projects. I think the field is beginning to mature a bit, and persons who started with simple ideas are definitely stretching to include some very sophisticated work. It is always exciting to go to a gourd show and see the many directions that gourd craft is heading.
Are there organizations one can get involved in to keep the interest alive?
The American Gourd Society has been in existence since 1935, and has recently seen an enormous expansion of interest. In the past 10 years, gourd societies have been started in many states. The best way to find out about these is to contact the American Gourd Society, 317 Maple Ct, Kokomo, IN 46902-3633. (The AGS is developing a website, but I'm not sure of their new address. (ed note: www.americangourdsociety.org ) A good source for lots of other information on gourds is Gourd Artist Guild. (The fellow who runs this is John Stacy, whose email is [email protected]) They have information on all aspects of gourd growing and crafting, as well as connections to suppliers and artists.
Why did you decided to write only gourd books?
Actually, I never decided to 'write a book'; it was just that the last book written on gourds was published in 1970, and frankly, the projects are VERY dated. My friends simply couldn't understand why I could be interested in something like this. But working with gourds is easy and fun, and there was no literature available anywhere to give suggestions at any level. The more I started working with gourds, and the more crafters I met, I realized some very exciting things are being done with gourds today. Unless you really dig around, this information simply wasn't available to the general crafting public. The only way to get information on gourds was to join the American Gourd Society, and unfortunately as a volunteer organization, they are very difficult to get information from. Once I got started teaching classes and working with crafts more and more, it was only natural that books had to be written. The pieces fell into place, and the books sort of evolved from my experiences.
Is there any question you wish I had asked?
Perhaps a very brief blurb about the history of gourds. They are one of the very first plants that were cultivated by humans. They probably originated in Africa, but disseminated throughout the world to all continents. Gourds have been used for literally thousands of years, for a wide range of purposes: food (they are, after all, members of the squash family, and can be eaten when they are small), medicine, musical instruments, containers of every shape and size and for every purpose you can imagine. I am always amazed when I examine the collections of museums to see the unusual ways people have used gourds in the past. (I recently returned from West Africa where people continue to use gourds in ways they have been used for thousands of years.) Some of the decorated gourds in museums are truly awesome--the beaded and inlay work from Africa is breathtaking!
Also see Ginger Summit's biography.