Storing Gourd Birdhouses   Summers over, the martins are all gone south for the winter, now what do I do with the gourds? Just like any other natural items in nature, gourds will deteriate if left out in the elements. Therefore, to protect them, they should be put away in storage for the winter months. This one action alone will help make your gourds last as long as 30 years. You've put a lot of work into preparing them, you might as well go that extra step and try to protect them and make them last. This is the easiest way I've found to 'put them up' for the winter. After taking them down and cleaning them out, I get some of those large, heavy duty trash bags. I've found the real thick ones work best. I then place about 10 gourds in each one and then seal it tight. I happen to have a storage room off the back of my shop, and I hang the bags of gourds from the rafters so the insects and rodents can't get at them. The ones I use have their own draw strings, so it makes it easy for me to hang them. The plastic bags are very slippery and makes it just about impossible for anything to get a good foothold without sliding off. Any spare, out of the way space will work if you don't have a shop like me. An attic, a wall of a garage, back porch, or storage shed, etc. You just want to get them out of the elements and out of your way until they are needed next spring. Just make sure the place selected is dry and that the bags are sealed tightly so nothing can get in. Leaving them hang out in the elements all winter is not a good thing to do with them, and their usable life will be cut very short. And, just bundling them together and setting them in a corner somewhere without protection is inviting all kinds of creatures to take up residence in them. You'd be surprised at just how many nests one field mouse can build and how many holes they can chew to get to them. Take the extra measure to protect them. Believe me, it's worth every bit of the effort.   Comments/Questions If you have any comments, would like to send me another Martin site, or just say "Hi", please click on my mail box to send e-mail to Chuck Abare Please note: If you send me an Email and ask a question and do not get an answer of some sort from me within a couple of weeks, it's because your return email is not correct. Find out what your correct email is, correct the problem and then send your question to me again. Back to the Gourd Page Back to Chuck's Purple Martin Page This page created and maintained by Chuck Abare   Woodside Gardens The Registry of Nature Habitats Copyright 1999 - All Rights Reserved Last Updated: