Halloween is around the corner and with the Connection’s Arts and Entertainment Editor already painted a clear picture of what the scariest holiday of the year may look like during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Schoolcraft Connection editor team have taken it upon ourselves to answer the question no one is asking: What are our favorite gourds?

We’re really doing this, huh? This wasn’t a joke? OK then. You want a gourd story, I’ll give you a gourd story.

Pumpkins seem to be heavily associated with Halloween more so than any other gourd. So, in an attempt to avoid redundancy, we have compiled a fresh list of these unique fruits.

While gourds are a symbol for the upcoming spooky holiday, their significance stretches back eons to when they were utilized as water bottles by the Egyptians. In addition to this unique implementation, gourds have also been used as utensils, storage and dippers in the past. These cucurbit fruits are generally inedible due to their hard shells, but with the exceptions of pumpkins and some forms of squash. 

The wax gourd, also known as the Chinese watermelon, winter melon, ash gourd and white gourd can grow up to 16 inches in length. Look at this thing! Our gourd, it’s huge!

 This fruit could feed a family of 4 and can be found in the tropics of Asia. It’s used as an ingredient in soup, curry and stir-fry. Thus, it’s truly a swiss army fruit. How versatile.

It can even be kept in storage for several months.

Aside from the more conventional breeds of organic autumnal ornamentations that just resemble a common pumpkin (or an irradiated cucumber, for that matter), many other subspecies are often overlooked. Behold the breathtaking, Speckled Swan Gourd.

The splendid majesty of the Speckled Swan lies in its resemblance to the bird and is most commonly known for its beauty with its long and curvaceous “neck” ending in a plump little “head.” If these little green delights suddenly sprouted wings, their sumptuousness would rival, if not eclipse entirely that of its namesake.

Perhaps the most interesting gourd in existence according to the farmer’s almanac is the ‘Snake’ gourd. This particular fruit (don’t fight us on this, we researched, it is not a vegetable!) is famous for its windy form that resembles the slithering reptiles. Interestingly enough, the Snake gourd only flowers at night when pollinated by moths. If that isn’t gory and terrifying on this Halloween, then we aren’t sure what it is. In addition to that fun fact, the Snake gourd is only edible in its premature state albeit unflavorful. Wait long enough and one can even craft this unique fruit into an Australian didgeridoo! (Source: https://www.almanac.com/types-gourds)

Indeed, gourds are simply glorious and have been ignored for far too long. At the Connection, we hope that we were able to enlighten you on the facts of such compelling fruit. The internet is an eternal source of knowledge and we hope this was as informative as it was passionately written. As always, we’re glad to provide the hard hitting, non-biased news you all deserve.

Best regards,

The Schoolcraft Connection Editor Team

Primary Image Courtesy of Kiy Turk