A Couple of Smackeroos will help our Giant Gourd Trellis dreams come true! More info here.
Our Dream of A Giant Gourd Trellis is Coming True!
Will you help make it so?
Update 6/11/24:
Between GoFund Me and Venmo donations, and some just tucked into my pockets while I wasn't looking, not to mention the Farm to Fork grant from Visit Ithaca, and with much gratitude to my recently departed dear Aunt Jackie, the Giant Gourd is fully funded! And it's beautiful (see below). The vines will be covering it in no time. Thanks very much to all who contributed! We counted the seeds in the jar yesterday, there were 1,774! Steve Law, the blacksmith's buddy, was the closest guesser (at 1,764), so he has won a gourd lamp. Save the date, Mark Teece (The British Blacksmith) will be showing people how to make tendrils, September 29th, at Gourdlandia. Come wrangle some iron into curlicues!!
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Twelve feet wide, ten feet tall, and dripping with gourds! Mark Teece, the British Blacksmith, is building this big beautiful structure at his forge in Kirkville NY. The plan is for it to be done in time for the gourds to start climbing at the end of May (gourds just wanna have fun!).
Donators get a chance to win a lamp!
Step 1. Donate to our dream trellis
Step 2. Guess how many seeds are in this jar - you can include your guess with your donation on either GoFundMe or Venmo (if you have already donated you can email me your guess)
Step 3. In early June, I will announce the winner who will pick the lamp of their choice!
This is Mark Teece, The British Blacksmith
When I cold called Mark to see if he wanted to make a Giant Gourd Trellis, he said yes!!! He is working on it at his forge in Kirkville, NY where he also teaches classes - check them out!
We got a Grant!
It's the Agriculinary Tourism Farm to Fork Microgrant. Many thanks to Tompkins County Convention & Visitors Bureau for promising us $2,000 for this project.
Make a wrought iron tendril for the trellis!
We're planning a tendril making event on September 29th. Mark will lead participants in forging tendrils out of iron here at Gourdlandia. Stay tuned for more details!
This is how a blacksmith looks at gourd vines:
