Gourd Nga Puhi (AKA Ruka)

Description: This traditional Maori gourd was sent to us from the Ruka whanau in Northland. It is a beautiful fat round gourd with a neck. It makes a great salad/fruit bowl or a container. They require a long growing season and full growing and harvesting and drying instructions come with the seed. This is a medium sized, round, bowl shaped gourd that has been selected for carrying water and storing food for many generations around the Pacific. In recent times they have been used as ornaments and the shell thickness has not been valued so they have become thinner but we are again selecting for shell thickness. We have been using the gourds as bowls and food storage containers by sanding with fine sandpaper then melting beeswax and coating them both inside and out.

Planting Instructions: Sow seed into tray after danger of frost. Prick out at 6cm diagonal spacings when first leaves appear. Transplant into garden at 50cm diagonal spacings once soil temp reaches 15-16 degrees C.