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pb
sitar gourd seeds? Where can I get them? Aug 22, 2003 09:54 a.m.

Hi,
I read Russ' article at:
http://www.buckinghammusic.com/sitar/sittut/gourdy.html
and I would like to try to grow a few gourds. I don't know where to find seeds. Short of travelling to India, does anyone know where I can get some seeds? Mail order?

thanks,
Pb
Jeff
Re:sitar gourd seeds? Where can I get them? Aug 22, 2003 10:16 a.m.

At the sitar gourd seed store silly, where else? :-)
Try searching on the net for this place called Welbourn gourd farms they may be able to help ya.
Jeffrey R King
Russ
Re:sitar gourd seeds? Where can I get them? Aug 22, 2003 11:19 a.m.

The gourd industry is world-wide, and there are plently of clubs and groups in the U.S. the specialize in growing, decorating, and selling all kinds of gourds and gourd seeds. When you have a good bit of time, type "gourds" on the google engine. You will get a great many hits! If you don't have a local garden supply, then mail order is OK.
For the main sitar tumba, the bushel type gourd works very well. For the neck tumba, I used the canteen gourd. Has a good size and shape for that. Gourd growing is fun, but you do have to provide it a heavy-duty trellis or fence to grow on. It is a fast growing vine.
pb
Re:sitar gourd seeds? Where can I get them? Aug 22, 2003 12:26 p.m.

Hey Russ,
I wasn't sure what name of gourd to search for. I tried sitar gourd, but got all the sitars for sale. Then I found this huge gourd decorators sub culture! I found a "bottle gourd". Is that the same as "canteen gourd"? BTW Russ, great article, read it a while ago and was dying to try it.

thanks,
Pb
Billy
Re:sitar gourd seeds? Where can I get them? Aug 22, 2003 12:45 p.m.

A while back, someone here was commenting on the rattle inside their toomba when they shook their sitar; probably seeds. If they can fish them out the neck, they probably got the right sized gourds with those seeds. . .
Namaste',
Billy Enigmar Godfrey
Russ
Re:sitar gourd seeds? Where can I get them? Aug 22, 2003 01:01 p.m.

PB, yeah, had fun writing the article. Did it as a favor to help spruce up Buckinghams's early webpage which was pretty bare years ago. A canteen gourd is fairly round, very similar shape to a standard canteen. It got its name from the US Calvary of the old west, who used them to carry water (or whiskey) with them when on patrol. The gourd was water-tight and a great deal less weight than a canvas canteen. The bottle gourd is not the same thing. Its a good bit smaller and shaped like a bowling pin. Pretty cool item to decorate with though. Good flower vase.

Billy, thought of that some time ago, but never could get the seeds to slide out of there. Anybody else ever have luck with that? For a new sitar, that might work. But for an old one, realize that all seeds have a limited lifetime depending on variety and storage conditions. After a long time, they're just no good and won't come up when planted.
Billy
Re:sitar gourd seeds? Where can I get them? Aug 22, 2003 01:16 p.m.

Russ,

Just re-read your article. I think you had an advantage of having what is probably now a rare aluminum toomba, that was thin enough to glue to the outside of the gourd, if I read this correctly.

I think if I were to do this with a wooden toomba, I would want to glue it to the inside of the gourd, with a lip around the wooden piece that would coincide with the hole of the gourd. Still, that might not be too hard.

Anyway, great article. Wish you had photos of the actual gourd plants. I've never seen a gourd that size growing in real life.

I have been wanting to build an African-style Marimba, called balafone or gyil; these use various sized gourds as resonators, so I've been pricing them. Gourds are not cheap, especially the larger ones. I think I may try growing some myself; if you can grow them in dry Las Cruces, seems I can grow them in Fort Worth!

BTW, off-topic, I spent my last two years in the Army stationed at Fort Bliss in El Paso. This was when we still had Blue Laws in Texas. So the popular thing to do on Sundays then was to drive to Las Cruces and hang out in the mall. . .hey, it was air conditioned, and cheap (as long as you stuck to window shopping.)

Namaste',
Billy Enigmar Godfrey
pb
Re:sitar gourd seeds? Where can I get them? Aug 22, 2003 01:33 p.m.

Thanks Russ,
I'll look around for the canteen gourd. What is the main tomba gourd called? I wouldn't mind growing a few of those big ones as well, if possible, and hang them in my garage for looks, or maybe replace my tupperware :-) I could bring my lunch to work in a gourd!

Billy, I tried shaking the seeds out, no luck. Maybe Russ is right, if they have a shelf life.

thanks guys,
Pb
Billy
Re:sitar gourd seeds? Where can I get them? Aug 22, 2003 03:21 p.m.

Russ (Aug 22, 2003 03:03 p.m.):
Billy, the alternative to Texas blue laws or Las Cruces is over the river to Juarez. .

Yeah, I had my share of forays into Juarez, usually with the guys in my platoon. Sometimes my wife and I went to the dog races, but that was about it. When I was stationed there (83-85) it was already pretty dangerous. But then again, so was El Paso!
Namaste',
Billy Enigmar Godfrey
Russ
Re:sitar gourd seeds? Where can I get them? Aug 22, 2003 03:03 p.m.

Billy, the alternative to Texas blue laws or Las Cruces is over the river to Juarez. A lot of soldiers do that one on payday. Did that myself a few times, but its far too dangerous nowdays with the drug mafia over there. Somebody always getting killed. . .
Actually, the top tumba was exclusively made of thin aluminum, painted brown. There was no actual gourd material involved. It was very light weight, but very fragile too. Had several dents in it where a 5 year old had knocked my sitar over onto the floor from the wall many years ago. Sitar survived, but the aluminum looked like hell! Indented like paper, and the paint had flaked off. Yuck!
Hmmm. . .didn't think about taking a picture of the gourd vine growing. That would have been a good one. You can grow these things anywhere that has at least a 5 month growing season. Ft. Worth should be fine.

Pb, the main tumba is called pumpkin gourd in India. But we have the equivalent plant over here, known as a bushel gourd. They get to be juat a little bigger than a basketball.
Beenkarji
Re:sitar gourd seeds? Where can I get them? Aug 22, 2003 03:35 p.m.

Hi, I have seeds if you want them. The tumba gourds that we all know in love I found out is basically a sister to the bushel gourd that we grow here in the US, none the less, just email me if you want some.
Beenkar Ted Ceplina
pb
Re:sitar gourd seeds? Where can I get them? Aug 22, 2003 03:59 p.m.

Thanks again, I'll order up some canteen gourds and email beenkarji (thanks for the offer!). I think it is too late in the year for them now, but early next year should be fine. I'll take some pics for a laugh later.

Pb
Jan
Re:sitar gourd seeds? Where can I get them? Aug 22, 2003 04:11 p.m.

Howdy all!

About this seed thing, I have shaken out the content of my 2 sitars and there were nothing inside thet comes close to beeing a seed. Its just wood, small bits and pieces.
Someone talked about this some months back (remco?).
the Sitar construction is hollow so if you hold your Sitar upside down and remove one of the pegs you will be able to shake out most of it. Some wood might get stuck in the pegs and tarabs inside the neck, but just shake, twist and turn gently and it will all come out in the end. If you find something exotic take a snapshot and post it here : )

Ted! (still around, thats the way we like it : )

Do you know the name of the seedgiving plant?
Here in Norway i would need the help of a greenhouse to get it going, but it would be an interesting project.

jan
Russ
Re:sitar gourd seeds? Where can I get them? Aug 22, 2003 05:17 p.m.

Jan;
It was a couple of professional sitariyas that told me the noisy rattle is coming from loose seeds. I'm just taking their word for it since they know more than me. But yes, there is plenty of loose leftover tiny wood chips rolling around in there too. I have gotten most of that out of my Mangla teak thru the kunti holes. Don't know why they don't clean out the gourds before slapping the tabli on! But even now, I still hear them rolling around like buckshot inside the gourd. Kind of like a Mexican maraca. cha cha cha!

I guess you could grow these gourd plants in a greenhouse, but offhand I would not think you could get a gourd up to sufficient size for a sitar project. But what the heck, doesn't hurt to give it a try. I don't know the real botanical name for the bushel or canteen gourd, but one of the gourd society sites might have it listed.
Jan
Re:sitar gourd seeds? Where can I get them? Aug 22, 2003 05:50 p.m.

Im not planning on growing a gourd for a sitar, i just like the idea of growing one. Perhaps i can make a mixingbowl or a drum, a rattle or whatever. . interesting anyhow. I guess most Sitar players would enjoy to see this little miracle up close.
I would love to have a sitar plant!

Jan
swansong
Re:sitar gourd seeds? Where can I get them? Aug 22, 2003 06:20 p.m.

True, there is a very interesting gourd culture. There are actually various vendors selling canteen and bushel gourds for a modest price, as well as seeds of all types. check these sites. I think I would like the satisfaction of growing my own personally, but check these out if the end is more important than the means. .

http://www.northerndipper.com/
http://www.sandlady.com/Gourdchart.htm
http://canadiangourdsociety1.homestead.com/
http://www.gourdhead-quarters.com
and if you live in southern california:
http://www.welburngourdfarm.com/

That should be gourds a-plenty for ya, good luck. .
Russ
Re:sitar gourd seeds? Where can I get them? Aug 22, 2003 06:48 p.m.

Jan, a little trivia for you.

I originally come from the rural deep pine forests of west central Louisiana. In that part of the US, many people grow a pretty ornamental gourd vine on their fences. They're simply known as ornamental gourds. The gourds are small on the vine, perhaps 18 to 20 cm wide, but quite colorfull and in interesting patterns. The growing season there is around 8 months, from April thru October. It is around October that the gourds are picked and made into sugar bowls, small plates, coin purses, and all kinds of art projects. Its a tradition in that area originally begun by the native American peoples that have been there over many centuries. So by all means, if you're a gardener like I am, you can get hooked on growing these things. And gourd-craft is a popular hobby with many people worldwide.
Jan
Re:sitar gourd seeds? Where can I get them? Aug 23, 2003 02:43 a.m.

Russ!

well, im not exactly a gardener, but i really enjoy sow some seeds and watch them grow. besides i have kids and reaping/ harvesting or whatever is the correct term is really fun for them and me. Wether its tomatos or cucumbers from the window sill, or carrots from a milk carton. We dont have a garden, but a friend does and a greenhouse too : )

Jan
Jeff
Re:sitar gourd seeds? Where can I get them? Aug 23, 2003 08:59 a.m.

Hey Jan,
There aint nothin' like a good jersey tomato! Something in the soil here that makes them meaty and juicy beyond compare.
Jette
Re:sitar gourd seeds? Where can I get them? Aug 23, 2003 10:43 a.m.

Hey all,
Has anyone seen that old Gilligans Island episode with the supersized, superfreaky, supertasty radioactive vegetables. That might be what's in the Joisy soil. (hee,hee)

Hey Jan,
There aint nothin' like a good jersey tomato! Something in the soil here that makes them meaty and juicy beyond compare.
pb
Re:sitar gourd seeds? Where can I get them? Aug 23, 2003 11:42 a.m.

Thanks guys. Great links swansong. I think I'll order some from northern dipper. Nice to find a gourd farm in CAN. My garage will look like this in no time:

http://www.sitarsetc.com/photogallery/srishtishopics/shristi2.jpg

Pb
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