HOME AND GARDEN SHOW OFF TO BIG START

There's a zillion different kinds of gourds.

"Maybe not a zillion, but there are many varieties," said Anne Foust, a Cape Girardeau Master Gardener.

"I usually raise one or two types a year," said Foust. "Gourd plants can take over your entire garden if you're not careful."

Foust, who operates Green Garden Interior Plant Service, was a guest speaker at the Southeast Missouri Home Builders Association's Home and Garden Show, which started at the Show Me Center on Southeast Missouri State University campus Friday.

Foust's program, "Growing and Using Gourds," was the first of more than a dozen seminars being presented by the Master Gardeners during the three-day show.

Additional programs start at 11 a.m. today and continue through 9 p.m. They resume at 11 a.m. Sunday and go through 6 p.m., with topics on herbs, fertilizers, flowers, roses and other plants.

The 20th annual show, which attracted more than 11,000 people last year, features a number of programs, workshops, and more than 100 exhibits on two floors of the Show Me Center.

Free entertainment is provided through the weekend, with performances from local entertainers Mike Dumey and Robyn Hosp, Liesl Schoenberger, Andrea Penzel, Lacey Hayes, Courtney Crowden, Casie Janet and Shane Steck.

One of the newest items at the show this year is the Heart Healthy Cooking Shows, sponsored by St. Francis Medical Center. The new food show demonstrates how to prepare healthy meals and will be presented twice today and Sunday.

"We're hoping for another big show," said Jerry Welch, president of the SEMO Home Builders. "It got off to a big start Friday."

When the doors opened Friday afternoon, a long line was ready to enter the doors. "With good weather we could surpass last year's show."

Welch said the home and garden show was the largest between St. Louis and Memphis.

So, why grow gourds?

"They can be eaten," said Foust. "But, they're not as tasty as squash or pumpkin." Gourds are related to melons, squash, pumpkins and cucumbers, all members of the Cucurbitaceae or cucumber family.

Gourds come in many sizes and shapes, from the small cannonball gourds to the bushel basket gourd, which is as big, no surprise, as a bushel basket. They also come in different shapes -- bananas, flats, short handled and long-handled dippers.

"Most gourds are grown for arts and crafts," said Foust. "People decorate them."

Gourd artists come up with great decorations, said Foust. They use grape vines, pine needles, small pieces of drift wood in their decorations.

Gourds are also used to make drums, waste baskets, and the long-handled gourds are used as dippers and to make bird nests. Others are used as storage containers.

Gourds have been cultivated for thousands of years by many cultures worldwide, including Native Americans, for their usefulness as utensils, storage containers, and as ornaments.

Gourds are classified as a warm-season crop with a growing season from 100 to 180 days. Outdoor planting should occur when danger of frost has passed -- mid-April to mid-May -- and soil and air temperatures have warmed. Gourd seeds may rot before germinating if planted in cold, wet soils.

"I start my gourd plants inside," said Foust. "They can be started four weeks prior to planting outdoors, in individual containers such as peat pots, since the roots will not tolerate disturbance during transplanting."

Gourds are ready for harvest when the stems dry and turn brown. It is best to harvest gourds before frost. Mature gourds that have a hardened shell will survive a light frost, but less developed gourds will be damaged. The gourds should be cut from the vine with a few inches of the stem attached, taking care not to bruise the gourds during harvest.