I took a field trip with my husband to the side yard on Monday. He hadn’t seen our birdhouse gourd in a week so I was happy to show it off. The added girth was indeed impressive, but he was also concerned that the weight would snap the vine. His concerns were well founded. We lost a pumpkin this summer in the same way. One day it was hanging from the trellis; the next day the weight snapped the vine and dropped the pumpkin to the ground.
Above: A bit of perspective. The raspberries and oranges look tiny next to the gourd.
Left: measuring up.
As if on cue, when I checked on Birdhouse Gorgeous today it hung nearly six inches lower on the trellis. Further, the vine was putting weight on the phone wires under the eaves. I had to leave for a meeting, but couldn’t face returning home to a smashed gourd. I needed a way to support it without hindering its growth. Did they sell gourd hammocks, and if so, where would I find one on short notice?
My quick fix? A few pieces of garden twine and a color-coordinating mesh shopping bag. It took less than five minutes to rig and it solved both problems. The bag supports the weight of the gourd while at the same time allowing air to circulate. The twine lifts the vine up and away from the phone lines. I can’t write my blog without an internet connection! Crisis averted. The vine is now free to grow about its business.
Mesh grocery bag
It’s in the bag
Halloween Countdown
Vampire Pumpkin
I raided my son’s dress-up box for this week’s Halloween countdown. In the meantime, snails continue to “carve” the Snail Hotel.
Gardening Nirvana 
Always to the rescue!
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Thank you!
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Brilliant “green” solution. The reuse of a grocery bag, in the color green no less! Tina Blease would be so proud. Love your choice of words: “free to grow about its business”, Pun intended?, I”m sure of it ;0)
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Thanks for catching the pun, Sharon. I couldn’t believe I had a matching green bag for the task. Green plus green equals saved plant and phone lines! 🙂 Thanks for reading and commenting.
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I agree Sharon, cleverness all around!
Gourd hammocks…hehe, maybe fashioned out of some beachy material with little cocktails near by? It’s like they suddenly are on steroids, can’t believe how fast they’re growing. You’re smart to get it secured. Last night it started to howl outside, it’s crazy. I thought the whole place was going to blow away, like ‘Wizard of Oz’. Do you have to worry about the ‘Santa Anna’ winds we hear about when fires race along?
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Howling winds! You poor dear. Do your kitties run and hide when they hear them? Do you? 😉
My cats give me sideways looks when it rains, as if to say “where did that come from.”
The Santa Ana winds are in Southern California and they are quite fierce. We are 600 miles south of there, so we are lucky to avoid them, but we have many friends and some family living down there and hear first hand reports.
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LOL, I WAS totally freaked out a couple of times when things outside went ‘BANG’ but I think it was the giant tree out front hitting the garage. I would NEVER go check..too chicken. Kittys seemed oblivious to it all….off in kitty land counting mice or whatever they dream about in the 23 hours of sleep they enjoy. :0)
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I would have beautiful skin and tiny waist if I slept 23 hours a day.
As for the wind, one of the worst nights of my adult life (all in my head, I might add) was a windy February night in 1997. I was pregnant with Chris, Mike was on his way to Australia for a two week business trip, and our phone was knocked out of order. We had a second phone line in the day (this was before everyone had mobiles) and it went out. I drove to a corner store and called my mom from a pay phone so she wouldn’t worry if she couldn’t reach me, then I worried all night that a stranger lurked outside in the stormy night was I was alone, pregnant and without phones.
I felt so silly the following morning. I have a vivid imagination.
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You are preaching to the choir sista. I can’t see scary movies because of it. Remember when you could find a payphone? Nothing like wandering out in a storm in February…pregnant. Were gals still wearing tenty maternity clothes back then? You might have blown away. 😉
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Oh trust me: I would never be in any danger of blowing away, no matter what I was wearing. LOL. These sturdy ankles were made for gravity.
Yes…no scary movies. I never get them out of my head.
Payphones are a scarce commodity, to be sure.
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Ingenuity rules again. Isn’t it fabulous what our minds can come up with. The gourd is looking homey.
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Thank you! It is fun letting our minds work things out.
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