A few days ago I went out to Smuckers Gourd Farm to pick up my gourds and to see how my Alabama hand painted gourd turned out. I absolutely love my Alabama Crimson Tide hand painted gourd.
Smucker’s Gourd Farm is an Amish family run business. I had a chance to speak with Mrs. Linda the mom, Mr. Smucker the dad, and their daughter Frieda. Frieda hand painted my gourd. We handed her several pictures to choose from and she made us a beautiful Alabama Crimson Tide Gourd. The family is a very nice polite family and I enjoyed speaking with them. The family grows the gourds, paints them, and sells the gourds. Some gourds are not painted. We chose an unpainted gourd so we could have Alabama painted on the gourd. Here are my gourds I purchased from them. The first gourd is a feeder as you can see the open spaces in the gourd.
My gourd, as you can see, has open holes on the sides of the gourd for the birds to be able to feed. The colors Frieda used were red, black, and white, Alabama Crimson Tide colors. Frieda did a great job on painting the “A”. This view can either be the front or the back of the gourd.
This view can be either the front or the back of the gourd. Frieda hand painted the “A” and the wording, “Alabama Crimson Tide”. The feeder has four drain holes in the bottom to help with drainage.
This is a beautiful small gourd shaped like a mushroom top on the gourd. It has a brown top with a dark red bottom where the birds can make their homes. There are three drain holes in the bottom of the birdhouse. You can get these gourds in various colors.
In the picture below is another gourd with beautiful dark to light brown tones and golden lines running down the gourd in a vertical pattern. The gourd has three drain holes in the bottom. You can get these gourds in various colors.
The gourds you see need to be put in shaded areas as the sun can damage the paint and varnish. Birds also prefer a cooler house in the summer just like we do.
Below is an example of hand painted gourds that have decorative vines and a butterfly on the purple flower. During holidays you can find gourds with Christmas scenes.
To view more gourds, go to google and type in Smuckers Gourd Farm in Kinzers, PA. Then click on images and you will be able to view their farm and gourds from people who have visited the farm.
If you go out to Smuckers Gourd Farm they are open Monday – Saturday. Their hours are from 8:00 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday is their paint day. Smuckers Gourd Farm is located at 317 Springville Rd, Kinzers, PA 17535. Their phone number is 7173546118. They do not have a web page. If you want something painted like we did please take a few printed ideas for them to look at and they will let you know what they will be able to put on your gourd.
P.S. They are Amish so all they have is a landline. No smartphone, internet, email, nothing. Cannot even pay with a debit card by phone as they do not use any electricity. The pictures we gave them had to be printed out at the hotel and given to them by hand. If you want something painted personally, you will have to give them a description by phone. Anything you want copied from the net, i.e. logos, pictures, etc will have to be given to them to paint. Otherwise, family names, anything scripted like Live, Laugh, Love, etc. can be told to them by phone. When they are done, they will ship the gourds to you and send you a bill or you can send them a check/cash for the gourds you want and they will ship them to you. The Smuckers will let you know. You can pay by cash or check only.
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