Homegrown and Handcrafted
Gourds are among the most popular, well-known plants grown for decorations. But your garden can produce a world of beautiful, unusual supplies for your arts and crafts toolbox.
- For the bead-stringer, Mother Nature provides a readymade ornament for bracelets and necklaces. Job’s tears is a grass named for the teardrop-shaped “beads” it produces. Flowers emerge through the bead-like structure, creating a natural hole. The soft inside is readily pierced with a needle. The hard, shiny beads may be left their natural color (white to gray to black) or stained. Seeds for Job’s tears are available from www.selectseeds.com.
- You probably don’t own a cotton gin, but it shouldn’t stop you from growing cotton for fun. Several heirloom varieties produce naturally tinted fibers. The bolls are decorative enough, but the real charm lies in the subtle colors of the “cotton balls.” ‘Erlene’s Green’ produces light olive-green fibers; ‘Arkansas Green’ is a soft light-green; ‘Mississippi Brown’ is light tan to golden brown; and ‘Nankeen’ is light brown to copper. Seeds are available from www.southernexposure.com.
- As kids, many of us made art projects with dried beans. Few of us actually grew our materials though. The South Carolina Foundation Seed Association offers a host of strikingly patterned and colored bean seeds. Plant them at the base of a trellis, allow the pods to mature and dry on the vines, then reap the harvest. ‘Turkey Gizzard’ has a brown appaloosa pattern on a marshmallow cream background. ‘Davis Black’ produces a mixture of black, brown and white beans. ‘Striped Cornfield’ produces striped seeds. All of these “pole beans” also happen to be delicious to eat. To order, visit virtual.clemson.edu/groups/seed/heirloom.htm, write to SCFSA at 1162 Cherry Road, Box 349952, Clemson, SC 29634, or call (864) 656-2520.