Kitchen Garden Forum

Are Gourds edible?. I have just been given two plants by a friend,who grew them for fun,and she is also not sure if they are or not. She has mislaid the packet and cant remember what it said. I have never grown Gourds and so know nothing about them,apart from the fact that they are often used as ornaments. My own opinion is that they are not edible.

Your are right, John, they are not edible. The skin tends to be incredibly tough. The idea is, of course, to dry them gently and then use them for decoration.

Be warned - they are very vigorous plants and can take over the entire greenhouse, if that is where you are growing them.

Depends on what you mean by edible - I guess they can't be poisonous with their close relations but they certainly won't be palatable.

I agree entirely with Geoff.

What are sold as ornamental gourds are Cucurbita pepo, the same species as courgette/marrow and many "squashes" and "pumpkins" so will not be poisonous. They are just not worth eating and are dry and bitter tasting.

Plus, of course, VAT is payable on the "inedible", "ornamental" seeds

Thanks for your advice,I will grow them on anyway just for the hell of it,and see what the end result looks like.

I grew some very successfully a couple of years ago, all different shapes, sizes and colours. When they were ripe and hard, I varnished them, and sold a lot of them at a car boot sale, apparently they are popular with flower arrangers?
Regards, Essexboy.