5) Last but not least, we cannot guarantee your results,
we have tried and tested, and given you the information of what
worked successfully for us, to help to avoid the failures for you.
What you have read in our booklet is the result of lots of experiments,
trial and error, successes and failures. We green cleaned and oven
dried over 100 gourds ranging in size from a mini Sennari weighing
only an ounce or two, to Hyakunari bottle gourds weighing as much
as 3 pounds. In the green cleaning and oven drying process, we lost
about 5 - 8 gourds that apparently had not fully matured or were
too thin shelled. Each result is fully dependent on the careful
selection of what is or is not fully cured, the type of gourd, the
thickness of the shell, and on nature itself.
We wish for everyone to grow and develop the most beautiful
gourds you have ever grown, and hope that everyone might find some,
or all of the information we offer from our experiences to be useful
in producing a more beautiful finished piece of artwork, be it a
crafted gourd, or a gourd in it’s natural state.