Our Blog

It is almost Thanksgiving and it is at this time of the year I like to sit back and reflect over the last year. It is the time to remember all the things I am thankful for and all the people that have come into my life and some that have left. Here at Meadowbrooke […]

Kenneth “Jolio” Kerstetter the III was born in a strawberry patch, or so the story goes. Well, perhaps that is a bit of an embellishment, but Kenny has been around a very long time, his career with Meadowbrooke starting almost twenty years ago. Kenny started working for Ben at the tender age of twelve picking […]

Each year we host several different events at our farm in Carlisle, PA. We actually have many customers request the dates of our events so they can “save the date” for a special outing to Meadowbrooke. Long before each event much thought, time and effort is put into every aspect. While you may see some […]

A long wet summer has passed and our first frost of the fall is almost here. All summer the gourds have grown under a thick layer of vines and leaves. When I look out over a field of gourd plants I see very few gourds. It’s very hard to know how good of a crop […]

Each morning my husband, Ben, gets ready for work. Our dog, Lucy, watches him intently because she is not going to let him leave without her. She keeps close to his heels and carefully nudges her wet nose against his calf to let him know she’s right there. Ben and Lucy have the luxury of […]

I would like to introduce you to Verna Eckman, AKA Nanny Eckman, tag maker extraordinaire. She is wife of one, mother of four girls, Donna, Diane, Denise, and myself, Nanny to nine and great-Nanny to one. Nanny has been helping and giving her input to our company before we were Meadowbrooke Gourds and this was […]

Over the years many, many people have asked me the secret to the best time to pick their gourds. What I tell each of them is to be patient, you can’t possibly pick your gourd too late. That’s exactly right, this is one fruit / vegetable that doesn’t spoil on the vine. So if you […]

It’s a new day. My children are on their way to school and my husband is already at work. It is time for me to go to work also. As I make my scenic drive, I survey the fields and creek for wildlife. Spotting no animal activity today, my mind happily recalls the various sightings […]

One of the most asked questions has been “How did you ever start this business?”, like you were either really lucky or a bit crazy. I guess you could say we are a bit of both and have little things called hard work and passion. We were a bit crazy for having the thought that […]

At the beginning of summer, I noticed a small gourd plant starting to grow out of one of my grasses in my flower bed where a gourd birdhouse was hanging above. I know I hadn’t planted any gourd plants because I know how they take over everything. My flower bed had beautiful lilies, green grasses, […]

Another great question that we get asked is “What do we use to color and finish coat our gourds?” It all starts in our finishing room. First, we need to color our gourds. We have a few different products that we use for coloring our gourds. The most common is the leather dye. Leather dyes […]

If you are somebody that follows Meadowbrooke you may have noticed that there have been a lot of changes over the last few years. Through our efforts to constantly improve we have pretty much reinvented almost every part of the company from the products we offer to how we make them. About two years ago […]

Hi, I’m Kara, the newest member of the Meadowbrooke Gourds family. A few months ago I accepted a position as “floater”. A floater does a variety of different tasks to include washing, crafting, and finishing the gourds. I had a general idea of what I was getting myself into, but I didn’t know the depth […]

Roger “Mungo” Morrison III Esquire is a man of many talents, various interests, and curious notions. He has worked here at Meadowbrooke for thirteen years now and has been the leader of the washing department for some time. Roger was originally hired for the floating position, which suited him for a time. He eventually ended […]

Darren “Bruce Lee” Hartsock is a “Lifer.” No, I don’t mean in the correctional institution kind of way, but in the “I found the work and company I like to keep” kind of way. Darren really has been working for Meadowbrooke his entire adult life and even a little before that, when he was just […]

Can you believe that it is August already? I know when my kids were younger, August was the point where they felt they had done everything that there was to do, they were sick of swimming or riding their bike and it wasn’t quite time for school to start. I heard, more than I care […]

Yeah, my day has finally come! I just overheard Roger, one of the washers, talking and he said he is ready for me to become a jack-o-lantern. You see, I have been sitting in a bin in the dark for about 10 years, waiting patiently in the gourd crib until someone at Meadowbrooke came up […]

As time goes by there are questions we get at Meadowbrooke Gourds on a frequent basis. One of these questions is “How do I keep my gourd safe when I am ready to put it away for the season?” Here are a few tips for keeping your gourd in great shape year after year. Each […]

Joseph “Danger” Seaux was born thirty-some years ago in Lafayette, Louisiana, the youngest of three brothers. At the age of three, his family moved to the Carlisle area and has remained ever since, tucked into the comforting hills of the blue mountains of central Pennsylvania. After Joe graduated from high school, he was undecided as […]

One of the questions we are asked is “How do you decide what gourds to make for Product of the Month?” At that point we normally respond “the idea bank or the idea board located in our retail store.” It is at these two places, our customers provide invaluable insight as to what they are […]

First off I would like to thank Janice Dean from the store Front Porch Gallery in Columbus, Georgia for the pictures and for allowing me to tell everyone about a common misconception about gourds. Each year, we get a few calls or e-mails asking the same question “Are my gourds rotting? They have spots on […]

If you have ever read anything about our company you know each year we go on a company trip. This year was no different and our wonderful (and warm) destination was Key West, Florida. Anyone living in the northeast this year can appreciate how much we were looking forward to heading to sunny Florida after […]

The circle of life on our gourd farm all starts here. We haven’t finished gathering last year’s crop from our fields and already this year’s crop is started in the greenhouse. Yes, it really does take a whole year for a gourd to be grown and dried. The flats you see will spend about two […]

It’s Monday Morning, March 23rd at 8:55. I come into my office to get ready for what I think will be a nice relaxing day on the gourd farm. It is our slow season and many of our customers already have all the Easter gourds they need. I turn on my computer and begin my […]