Partaking of the Spirit of the Gourd

I have wanted to make a dish with pointed gourd or parval for sometime. However, I had searched high and low for the elusive little gourd with no success.

To my delight, I found parval in the frozen food section of a local Mediterranean grocery store several weeks ago. There were several different types of edible gourds. I purchased the pointed gourd and the spicky gourd or kantola because I was feeling adventurous.

I found two gourd recipes online. One recipe was for pointed gourd with potato. And, the other recipe was for roasted spicky gourd. I located all the ingredients and prepared the two dishes. In addition, I designed an invitation to present to my co-workers and friends (tasters). Then, I took my show on the road.

Twelve people were adventurous enough to partake of the spirit of the gourd including myself. We all liked the pointed gourd with potato recipe. Three of the twelve liked the roasted spicky gourd as much as they liked the pointed gourd dish. No one disliked the spicky gourd. However, its appearance and texture put it in the category of interesting.

All in all, I enjoyed the whole process. Thank you all for your support.

Metallic Gourd Necklace

Metallic gourd necklace, Fabiola, made of gourd, metal leaf, wood, brass, ribbon, acrylic paint and polycrylic sealant; hand fabricated, hand painted and sealed. Measurements: Pendant: 8-1/2 x 6 x 2 inches; Ribbon: 38 inches. Inventory No.: 2644. If you love this design, click here to see more of my gourd jewelry creations.

Necklace design by Sala Faruq. Photo by Sala Faruq. Copyright © 2011 by Sala Faruq. All rights reserved.

Organic Metallic Gourd Ring

Ring, The Divine RuPaul, made of gourd, dried root ball, paperclay, metal leaf, acrylic paint, polycrylic sealant; hand fabricated, hand painted. Measurements: 3-3/4 x 2-3/4 x 2-3/4 inches. Inventory No.: 2642. If you love this design, click here to see more of my gourd jewelry creations. Ring design by Sala Faruq. Photo by Joseph Naskar. Copyright © 2011 by Sala Faruq. All rights reserved.

Gourd Jewelry Creation

Bracelet, Ponti, made of gourd, metal leaf, acrylic paint, polycrylic sealant; hand fabricated, hand painted. Measurements: 3-1/2 x x 4 x 4 inches. Inventory No.: 2631.

If you love this design, click here to see more of my gourd jewelry creations.

Bracelet design by Sala Faruq. Photo by Sala Faruq. Copyright © 2011 by Sala Faruq. All rights reserved.

Gourd Jewelry Creation

Belt buckle, Donatella, made of gourd, metal button, recycled belt metal buckle, paperclay, felt, acrylic paint, polycrylic sealant; hand fabricated. Measurements: 4 -1/8 x 1 x 4-1/8 inches.

Belt buckle design by Sala Faruq. Photos by Sala Faruq. Copyright © 2010 by Sala Faruq. All rights reserved.

Gourd Jewelry Creation

Ring, Abidjan, made of gourd, paperclay, metal leaf; hand fabricated. Measurements: 1 1/2 x 3 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches.

Ring design by Sala Faruq. Photos by Sala Faruq. Copyright © 2010 by Sala Faruq. All rights reserved.

Gourd Jewelry Creation

Ring, Day of the Dead I, made of gourd, paperclay and rhinestones. Measurements: 1 7/8 x 1 1/2 x 1 inches.

Ring design by Sala Faruq. Photo by Sala Faruq. Copyright © 2010 by Sala Faruq. All rights reserved.

Gourd Jewelry Creation

Ring, First Wave, made of gourd. Measurements: 2 x 3 x 7/8 inches.

Ring design by Sala Faruq. Photo by Sala Faruq. Copyright © 2010 by Sala Faruq. All rights reserved.

Gourds, Banjos & Clocks

How is a gourd, a banjo and a clock related? To find the answer, go to my wall post dated August 18, 2010 (11:32 am) on Wells Fargo History Museums' Facebook page.

Gourd Jewelry Creation

Brooch, Sergio, made of gourd, paperclay and metal leaf. Measurements: 3 x 4 x 1 1/8 inches.

Brooch design by Sala Faruq. Photo by Sala Faruq. Copyright © 2010 by Sala Faruq. All rights reserved.

Gourd Jewelry Creation

Brooch, Rosa, made of gourd and metal button. Measurements: 3 x 1 x 3 inches.

Brooch design by Sala Faruq. Photo by Sala Faruq. Copyright © 2010 by Sala Faruq. All rights reserved.

Before and After

This is one of the gourds I purchased at the Welburn Gourd Farm about a month ago (far left). It was so funky cool, I had to have it.

Here is one of the projects I made from the gourd. It is a necklace I call, Earthseed (left). To create the necklace, I cut off two of the "wings" and glued them together. Then, I filled in the gap between the two pieces with paperclay. I painted and sealed the "bead." Finally, I hung the "bead" from a nylon cord.

Necklace, Earthseed, made of gourd, paperclay, nylon cord, silver, acrylic paint and polycrylic sealant. Gourd bead: 4 x 2 3/8 x 1 inches.Cord: 39 inches.

Necklace design by Sala Faruq. Photos by Sala Faruq. Copyright © 2010 by Sala Faruq. All rights reserved.

Gourd Jewelry Creation

Necklace, Praline Dream, made of gourd, copper, leather cord, and brass. Pendant: 1 1/2 x 1 1/4 x 1 1/2 inches. Leather cord: 18 inches, 2010.

Necklace design by Sala Faruq. Photo by Sala Faruq. Copyright © 2010 by Sala Faruq. All rights reserved.

Gourd Brooch Creation

Brooch, Lonesome Heart, made of gourd and metal leaf. Measurements: 2 1/8 x 1/2 x 2 inches, 2010.

Brooch design by Sala Faruq. Photo by Sala Faruq. Copyright © 2010 by Sala Faruq. All rights reserved.

Gourd Necklace Creation

Necklace, Cesar, made of gourd, metal leaf, brass and nylon cord. Pendant: 2 1/4 x 1 x 2 1/4 inches. Chain: 39 inches, 2010.

Necklace design by Sala Faruq. Photo by Sala Faruq. Copyright © 2010 by Sala Faruq. All rights reserved.

Gourd Earrings Creation

Earrings, Chained Hearts, made of gourd, brass, metal leaf and aluminum. Measurements: 3 1/2 x 3/8 x 1 1/4 inches. 2010.

Earrings design by Sala Faruq. Photo by Sala Faruq. Copyright © 2010 by Sala Faruq. All rights reserved.

Gourd Purse Creation

Purse, Love Never Loses its Way Home, made of gourd, leather, glass bead and acrylic medium. Measurements: 5 x 4 x 5 inches. 2007.


Purse design by Sala Faruq. Photo by Sala Faruq. Copyright © 2007 and 2010 by Sala Faruq. All rights reserved.

Noni Revisited

I posted the ring design, Noni, on April 25, 2010. Since then, I have had several inquiries about how to wear it. So, here is Noni revisited.

Ring, Noni, made of gourd and paperclay. Measurements: 2 x 2 x 1 inches. Size: 3 3/4. 2006. Ring design by Sala Faruq. Photo by Sala Faruq. Copyright © 2006 by Sala Faruq. All rights reserved.

Gourd Jewelry Creation

Ring, Noni, made of gourd and paperclay. Measurements: 2 x 2 x 1 inches. Size: 3 3/4. 2006.

Ring design by Sala Faruq. Photo by Sala Faruq. Copyright © 2006 by Sala Faruq. All rights reserved.

Gourd Growing Diary

As mentioned in my March 26, 2010 blog post, I am attempting to grow some gourds in my garden. It is something I have never tried before. However, things seem to be going well so far. I have successfully germinated three seeds and now have three little gourd plants. To make sure they have a good start, I will be keeping them indoors for several more weeks. Here is what I did to date.

Seed Germination

I moistened a paper napkin and put it inside a Ziploc bag. Then, I placed six seeds about a half inch apart in a row on top of the damp napkin and sealed the bag. I placed the bag on top of my cable box because it was consistently warm. Three of the seeds sprouted in about a week. The other three did nothing, even after two weeks.

The Planting

I took the three sprouts and planted them in small individual clay pots. I used a standard potting soil and planted the sprouts about an inch deep in the soil. After watering them well, I put the three pots under a lamp to keep them warm for the first day. The next morning I placed the pots on a window sill. When I came in that evening, the plants were breaking through the soil of two of the pots. Nothing was happening with the third pot. After four days, the third sprout broke through the soil. I water the plants about every two or three days.