Thanks for the ideas TE and Jo. That rock making class must have been fun. Sounds like you didn't need much prep work for the latex. It may not have been necessary but I gave my rock a good scrubbing and coated it with Murphy's oil soap. After imbedding some nylon mesh with a couple more layers of silicone I peeled the patch off yesterday. Only a small amount of rock pieces stuck to it but it was still quite tacky. Maybe I didn't blot the soap off enough. I made sure to do thin layers and waited 24hrs between them. It's less sticky today but not nice and firm like the top layer. I didn't bother with adding acrylic paint to the 1st layer but did with the next 3. The edges are nicely feathered though. I'd like to attatch it around a 2" dowel and use it like a paint roller if it cures a bit more. TE, tour brick faces sound neat but I'm definately looking to cast them in one shot. Guess the wax wouldn't be a good choice for this project. I did try casting on some 3/4" crushed stone and some woodchips covered with plastic but I didn't like the plastic bag lines around the indentations. Pea gravel would probably be better - it's probably smaller than what I used. Also using handi wrap instead of a garbage bag might make a difference. I haven't seen any 18' wide plastic wrap at the supermarket though. I'm not looking fot a very pronounced texture for driveway pavers. I'm sort of going for the tumbled paver look and am also trying to incorperate rounded corners in the mold. If we weren't making so many I'd take a file to the edges but DH definately wouldn't go for that. I made a mold with 2x4's with mini blind slats glued around the top that worked OK but I don't know how well it will hold up with repeated castings. I checked out the styrofoam at Home Depot - $12.98 for the 2'x8'x1.5" but they were out of stock.... wish they had it in smaller pieces so I could try it out before investing that much. There was a previous discussion about concrete sticking to various types of styrofoam but I can't find it. I think I remember you saying it doesn't stick to the kind you use. Is this correct or do you use a release agent ?

have you tried a google search of "wax gourd tsp" and "winter melon tsp" etc. well you are having fun this year growing everything. You must have a big garden. there is a short discussion in the book Growing Chinese Vegetables in Your Own Backyard about a fancy dish where everything is cooked inside the gourd and served in the gourd with the gourd also cooked. I think it is very mild so it will take on any flavor you spike it with. It will keep in the house a long time after harvest. important to have food in the winter in the old days. I like soup so would use it that way. but give it some creative thought and you will do fine. it mixes with everything. my local oriental food store sells them so there is a good demand for such a big melon. If you dont want them, your local store might be happy to buy them from you cheap. I am sure you will find lots of ideas on the internet. the tsp is a clue to a recipe. I am wanting to grow them next year. Let me know how it works out. The big ones are kind of big. you better be hungry. Here is a link that might be useful: Picture of Wax Gourd and Meat Ball Soup

The choice is yours. I've heard of some pretty tasty recipes using these peppers. Its hard to determine which is best. Probably canning as sandwich rings is the most common use. Even this method has many variations. Yesterday one customer told of a recipe of stuffing these with sausage and another using them canned in combination with whole olives, garlic and onions. I'd say use your imagination and find a few uses that appeal to your palate.

I had an elderly neighbor who loved those things and grew bushels of them. His favorite way to use them was Stuffed Peppers. He washed them, cut off the top and then cut down one side and took the seeds out. I think he blanched them for a minute, then let them drain. Next he made a meatloaf mixture, sometimes adding rice, but usually bread crumbs. Then he stuffed the peppers and put them into freezer containers and covered them with tomato juice, and into the freezer they went. To bake, he put them into a baking dish and baked them as he would a meatloaf. The meat absorbed some of the heat of the peppers, and they were delicious. You need a large glass of ice water and slice of bread and butter to eat these things! Jan