My friend Marcia makes bird houses from big gourds.  Sometimes she buys them ready to use, sometimes she has to clean them out first, and sometimes she grows some herself.  I have 4 seeds sprouted and hopefully I can grow some for her,  growing and climbing  up some bamboo behind my house. 

Marcia is a talented artist and paints on canvas and works with  several other mediums. She enjoys making these birdhouses too, and they’re cute, and useful!  She coats them with polyurethane so they will last several seasons outside in the summer.  They should be brought in for the winter. She uses her good artistic  imagination and works with the shape of the gourds to make some really neat bird houses. Then, appropriately, she displays them at sales on a tree!  

gourd bird houses

This one looks like a house for people, rather than birds! 

gourd bird house

Here’s a whole group of them. 

gourd bird houses

Marcia doesn’t currently have a sales site on-line.  She does have a good many of the bird houses on hand, and will also take special orders and work with mail order.  She can be reached by email at:  mwible55@yahoo.com