Web Chef Review: Ontario Swan Gourds + Stands at Harvest Barn Country Markets

Posted By Kimberly Turner on Oct 14, 2014 in Canadian Food Recipes, Cooking Shows, Ethnic Foods, Featured, Food Fun, Fruit & Vegetables, Healthy, Kids Recipes, Niagara Reviews, Ontario, Product Reviews, Reviews, Side Dishes, Squash, Vegan, Vegetarian, Veggies, What I Say About Food | 0 comments

Lately, I have seen a number of unusual and gorgeous squash and gourds, but I am most impressed and amazed at Ontario Swan Gourds and these special display stands for them at Harvest Barn Country Markets.

Mother nature never ceases to amaze me. Not only are most of them beautiful, but they are edible as well, enabling you to create healthy and delicious dishes.

The lovely shades of green are pretty with the cream colored and beige mottling, giving the impression of feathers. The swan necks are long and graceful, and the stands have webbed feet and something that resembles a tail, so the gourd just sits right in the top part of the stand.

Find out about this product on this webisode of What I Say About Food:

They look so adorable, looking like a swan, a duck or a goose that’s bending it’s head down to greet you at your door. It will certainly be a conversation piece.

Although swan gourds have not really been considered to be edible by many people, they are included in some Asian and Indian cuisine. Personally, I don’t see why they would be considered to be inedible, so I plan to experiment and cook something with them, and see how I like them.

In addition to looking unusual, the exterior is very solid and hard, they make attractive decorative pieces. Some swan gourds have been dried out until you can hear the seeds rattling inside, then carved out to make bowls and containers, as well as musical instruments of some kind, which I think is very interesting and inventive.

If you want to keep your swan for a long period of time, after you have used the gourd as a decoration for a season or so, place it in a dark, dry, well ventilated area. Turn the swan gourd every few days, so it doesn’t get any rotten spots. Eventually, when you shake the gourd you will hear the rustling of the dry seeds inside.

If you wish, you can remove a wedge from a spot, where it won’t show too much. You can remove the seeds and any of the stringy stuff through the hole created by removing the wedge. Then return the wedge, and it shouldn’t show. You could even glue it back in place using a glue gun. You now have a gourd that should last indefinitely. You could even cover it with a coat of clear finish coat or epoxy, so your swan gourd is nice and shiny.

My swan gourds and the cute stand, come from my local Harvest Barn Country Market in Niagara-on-the-Lake and I am very pleased with them. Look online for Harvest Barn Country Markets:

HarvestBarn.ca

So, I really hope you make a trip out to Harvest Barn Country Markets, either in Niagara-on-the-Lake or St. Catharines, where the fantastic array of gourds, squash and pumpkins will take your breath away.

Something that is good to know about Harvest Barn is that, as much as possible and whenever possible, they try to bring in fresh Ontario produce from within a 100 mile radius of their locations. By adhering to this policy, the produce can be harvested when ripe, and the short transportation distances mean that the produce isn’t likely to bruise or become damaged during transit.

The flavor of fresh produce, especially fruit, is much better and sweeter, when it is picked ripe and quickly sent to market, rather than being picked green and forced to ripen in transit or on the shelf where they tend to loose moisture, can start to break down without air circulation, and definitely lack flavor.

Pick up a pretty Swan Gourd and have it a place on your front step to greet guests, or place it in an empty corner in your kitchen or beside your fireplace.