Garden of Gourds

So, the Relish garden is winding down. The tomatoes are still hanging on,mostly green ones and half eaten red ones, as well as the basil and parsley and okra. What is going full tilt however is the gourds. The garden is so fertile from all the compost that gourds literally spring up everywhere--on top of the compost pile and everywhere in between.  At first glance you don't see many, but once you start looking, you find them tucked away among the vines everywhere. The garden has lots of what is called egg gourds--white gourds that look a lot like eggs and small striped gourds. I love them and can't resist taking home almost bucketfuls, which I have scattered all around the house. We also made a neat garland from them, which will be featured in the November issue of Relish.