Spinning Gourd Seeds (Cucurbita pepo var. ovifera)

In a letter to his granddaughter Ann Cary Bankhead, dated Dec. 29, 1809, Thomas Jefferson mentioned a present he had for her younger sister Mary from “Miss Thomas…the minutest gourd ever seen.” Jefferson sketched the gourd in the margin of his letter, the shape of which is identical to a diminutive heirloom variety from Primm Springs, Tennessee, known as the Tennessee Spinner or Dancing Gourd. This annual vine bears tiny, green striped gourds in abundance. Spinning Gourds can be easily dried for decorations and crafts and children have long enjoyed them as spinning toys.

Direct sow seeds in hills after the last spring frost; for hills, sow 6-8 seeds per 12”-wide hill, then thin to the best 3 plants per hill. Provide a support structure. Approximately 20-25 Spinning Gourd seeds per packet.