The gourd garden is where it all begins with the tilling and fortifying of the soil. Once the hills are ready, I truly start my art journey by first selecting seeds and starting them indoors about one month prior to introducing them to the garden. My husband was kind enough to build a drip irrigation system and individual mini cold frames for each hill. Once in the cold frames, the tender young plants are covered for the night and opened up to let the much needed sunshine in. This year I had 16 hills to keep me busy, as well as an arbor and fence for my smaller gourds and dippers. When people ask me how long it takes me to do a piece, I always tell them that truly it takes a whole year!
