Ornamental Gourds

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Ornamental gourds are back and properly timed to the classic Fall season you would normally expect to see them in markets. I first wrote about these ornamental gourds a year and a half ago, here, and wondered if the growers would figure out how to get them to market just before Halloween and Thanksgiving. I found these at S&R at the Fort, but I suspect they would also be in some of the weekend markets. They also had some nice small to medium sized classic pumpkins on offer. None of the humongous pumpkins one might find in the northern parts of the United States at about this time of year, but still pretty good in Manila, halfway around the world and near the equator…

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These ornamental gourds make a wonderful still life, and will last several months. At PHP139 a kilo or so, they are some 30-40% cheaper than they were last year. I like picking out the most unusually shaped specimens, followed by color considerations… they seem to range from a very dark green to pale creams and several shades of orange. They would make a terrific base for a place card at a more formally set up Fall or Thanksgiving type dinner…

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21 Responses

  1. I remember seeing ornamental ones at the Salcedo market last year. At the stall selling ornamental plants. So I guess they’re not meant to be consumed. =)

  2. Pumpkins, ornamental gourds and deep colored Mums (Chrysanthemums)usher Fall in to our home. A visual reminder that the year is about over and it’s time to bundle up.

  3. Ornamental gourds and pumpkins are available at seedling bank – Waling (I’m not that sure of the name) but their outlet is located beside Purificacion Orchids. They grow it from Davao I think.

  4. Somewhere in rural pennsylvania, I bought five of these for a dollar, and two butternut squash (squashes?) for a dollar each. Made a huge pot of soup with the butternut squash, and used the ornamentals for the place settings. So pretty.

  5. ..and they’re most probably from davao. but the bowl, the footed bowl..! anything can look good on top of that fruit bowl.

  6. Love the antique “frutera”. First time I’ve seen it in green, or is it just the color of the blue glass mixing with the yellow “calabazitas”? But what are those bumps?

  7. Michael and millet, its an oldish fruit bowl, I did a post on older pieces I inherited from ancestors, here. It comes in clear glass, blue and green. I suspect it came in other colors as well. My grandmother used them quite a bit, only lately have I noticed them in antique shops for a couple of hundred dollars a piece. I wanted to get a few more but I found them to be rather pricey. Great for fruit, desserts, holiday chocolates, etc. Pia, yes, I have seen them at Waling… hmmm, I should have thought of that earlier, they would have been cheaper there.

  8. MM, something’s NOT happening to your thai tuna salad post- can’t seem to get past the home page.when i click on the “read more” tab, i always get to a page that says “page not found”, with a listing of previous posts.

  9. Hi Millet, not sure what happened there, but I think I have fixed it. Please leave a comment if you still can’t open it. Hmmm, I wonder what caused that…

  10. Just saw these gourds at Shopwise Libis last saturday. Never thought they were ornamental! =)

  11. Mr. M, this would be a great center piece for thanksgiving dinner. Thank’s you just gave me an idea.

  12. Its funny, My brother in law planted 2 upo plants in my backyard. It yields alot (and I mean alot) of upo, which I shared with friends. Marami pa ring natira sa puno, and they just dried up. When it was time to clean the yard and the plantings, we found out that the dried upo whose inside were eaten by some insects were like decorative ornamental gourds. I mean, I experimented on painting them different colors and put some stickers on some. We then hang them on our Harvest Festival party. wow talaga.

  13. also saw these at the american women’s bazaar. marketman, was wondering if you saw the orange summer squash at s&r too.. saw them at s&r aseana.. was searching your blog for some recipes but couldn’t find any??

  14. Hi MM! My friend made centerpieces for my birthday party last weekend and actually used a couple of these gourds, along with some pine stalks, eucalyptus, etc. It really does give you that festive, autumn feel. Posted some pictures of them on my multiply site if you care to see…:-)

  15. I’ve been looking for a great subject to paint and the first picture rocks! can I use it as a subject? who do i talk with?

  16. noel, if it is for your personal enjoyment, please go ahead and use the photo as your subject. If you are going to sell the painting, then I want first crack at buying it :) If it is for a commercial purpose, attribution to source would be requested… Thanks for asking.

  17. Whoa! You sure respond real fast Marketman. Sorry couldn’t reply you right away. Good news for you, am going to paint it, it’s going to be for sale and you might as well have a first crack at buying it. For starters, am a Cebuano professional fine artist based in Manila. Latest project done: 2 commissioned portraits for a Canadian ADB executive. The paintings are now in Toronto.

    should you have any photos you think are worth painting, please show them to me and we can talk about you having commissions, whadya say, brotha?

    God bless the internet!

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