Our Blog

It may seem at this point that everyone at Meadowbrooke has been here since their infancy, and yes, Nathan “Gustavo” Bear is no exception. He was literally born into the world of Meadowbrooke Gourds by having the good fortune of being Ben and Denise’s second child. From the age of three, Nathan went to “work” […]

Since the beginning of Meadowbrooke Gourds, we have been crafting birdhouse gourds. Over the course of many years, we have tried many different finishes. In the past, we used alcohol-based leather dyes (which fade), transparent paint (which peels), and now an oil-based dye and polyurethane coat. During the spring of 2014, we noticed we were […]

Well, here we go again, breaking something that is working well and bringing smiles to many of our customers. Why would we do this? It’s simple; really, we can do even better if we rebuild it from the bottom up. So what is the big problem? Our Create Your Own Events are full, customers are […]

Every Wednesday morning we have a company meeting where everyone from all over the company gets together to talk about what happened during the last week and where we are as a company. Josh’s mom cooks us breakfast and we all sit down and eat some delicious food while we are having our meeting. One […]

​It’s now time to introduce one of the lovely ladies who works here at Meadowbrooke, and a no better place to start would be with the vivacious Doreen Heller. Dori has been with Meadowbrooke since the very beginning, even more so, if you consider she is the sister of Denise Bear. She began doing the […]

​Most people do not realize that the largest part of our business is wholesale sales, or perhaps better put, selling gourds to other stores all around the country. You can find our gourds in every state except for Hawaii. We even have a store locator set up on our website for you to search for […]

This time of the year on the farm is a very peaceful time. The gourds are all grown, cut from their vine and lying in the field in long rows slowly drying. There isn’t much to do on the farm except cut a little firewood to keep our home cozy and warm. All that can […]

Making the decision on what products to carry for the next year can be a daunting task. Every year this is a huge undertaking that some of us here at Meadowbrooke Gourds go through. It is a task we do not take lightly but we always have fun picking and choosing from some very interesting […]

Wow! Twenty years have passed since we put this business together. In some ways, it feels like we have been crafting gourds forever. At other times, it all seems to have happened so fast. I’m still amazed that the seeds from two gourds found by accident turned into a dream that has lasted twenty years. […]

Over a year ago we set out to bring the experience of crafting your own unique gourd creations to people in their own homes. Our create your own classes and events at Meadowbrooke have been very popular and we really wanted to expand upon that and make crafting gourds more accessible to more people. There […]

Since folks are naturally intrigued by gourds and interested in our unique business, each day we are asked many questions. In this article, we have answered the most commonly asked questions. How do I remove a base that is stuck? Turn your gourd over and find the sanded notch where the cord is. Place a […]

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 II 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 […]