Recent periodic table activity

Since the last installment, the project pick up speed and interest. Added to the table were the basic techniques for cleaning, opening, and gutting a gourd in preparation for art or craft work. Two layers of what can be done to the gourd were then added to give a basic overview of skills an artist can use to decorate his or her gourd.

Although the table is broad in the broadest sense of the word, as a starting point it would be helpful to a beginner who wants to get a big picture or the more advanced person who just wants something quirky to hang up in the studio!

Adding gourd activitles to the chart

A friend shared her poster of the Periodic Table of Sewing Elements found atby the Scientific Seamstress.  At the bottom of the chart is a mini-chart of activities that can be done with sewing. Brilliant addition to the information provided and something a Periodic Table of Gourds should have!

In the sewing chart, additional activities for sewing projects involve tie dying and hocking,  There is a 2-line collection of things that can be done with sewing projects.

Activities for gourd projects would include woodburning, staining, wax relief, tole painting, one-stroke painting, alcohol inks, chip carving, rim attachment, embellishment, etc. and on and on.  A whole new addition to the Periodic Table of Gourds,

Adding up the recent improvements..

Adding up the recent suggestions for periodic table improvements (font changes, individualizing the squash designations, and deepening the color to visually strengthen the changes from edible to inedible), here is the current table:

Remember, the gradation from left to right, or edible to inedible, to show there are squashes in the middle area that cross-over from an edible food to decorative/utilitarian purposes: food - food/fall decoration - food/fall decoration/commonly recognized - decorative use/utility use/commonly recognized - decorative use/utility use - decorative use.

another layer of meaning...

While reading a book recently about typefaces [Just My Type], it became apparent the font used to denote the squash/gourd designation could add another layer of meaning to the table. For example, a sans serif face might suggest a basic need such as food whereas a blackletter face such as Santas Humanum Salvator would visually describe a more decorative purpose.

As an experiment, the cell letters have been changed to reflect the nondecorative and decorative purpose.  For example, a squash only used as a food zucchini could use Arial, whereas a snake gourd used exclusively for decorative purposes might benefit from a curly font such as Henny Penny.

Refining the squash designations...

To maximize information, the individual cell designations will not include a picture of the edible or inedible squash.  The R (rots) or D (dehydrates) will go at the top between the harvest color and Edible/Inedible information.






The image of the squash will be in the lower right-hand corner as stated, directly opposite of the purposes: F (food)  / D (decorative) / C (commonly known).

Good catches!

Repetition on the table!

2 As
2Bs
2Cs
2Ss
2Ps and 2Ws

Yikes!!

Laying the table...

As a preliminary stab, here the edible and inedible members of the squash family commonly known to most people. While not a comprehensive collection, the table does begin to lay out the edible squashes to one side the inedible/crafty ones to the opposite side.  In this particular table, the middle area are squashes that have multiple purpose and therefore considered for this project as 'cross-overs'.

Making the division as a start

So, beginning with some divisions, let's say the overall topic of gourds is divided into two subdivisions; edible and inedible. These are universally accepted as the broad types of gourds by people who use gourds as a medium for art and crafts.

So, given edible and inedible, here are some gourds per division

Updated Atomic Structure Map

Reviewing lists of edible and inedible squashes and gourds reveals a fine tuning for the atomic structure map for the periodic table of gourds.  In the lower left corner, there was initially an indication of what the resulting purpose of the squash/gourd was supposed to be: food or decoration. In fact, the Organic Authority makes a clear statement of the difference between squashes and gourds: "Typically, the edible plants under this family are referred to as squash, and the ornamental (i.e. hard-shelled, inedible, and generally un-tasty) plants are referred to as gourds."

Since then, additional information suggests the purpose indication should be expanded to include ornamentation.  Art or utility decoration is the result of physically changing the gourd to be art or a tool of usefulness, whereas ornamentation is an existence where the squash or gourd is a table centerpiece or an autumn arrangement on a porch and then discarded.

The indications would be F (food) aD or uD (art decoration or utility decoration) and O (ornamental). A gourd can sometimes be one or another, or all three.  Hopefully, the fine tuning will make the distinctions clearer.

Color as Indicator

Several periodic tables use color to make the broad divisions obvious. In this Periodic Table of Design  the color mark the differences between the kinds of design, the elements of design, and the processes involved with design.

Even in the more contemporary version of the Periodic Table of Elements, the division of metals, nonmetals, noble gases, etc. are visually indicated with color as well as atomic structure.

Some periodic tables have color that represents a transition between groups such as in the periodic table below where the transition from physical powers and mental powers of super heroes.  This could be the way to go with the periodic table of gourds. There are edible gourds, and inedible gourds, but there are a cross-over area between the two where inedible gourds, if eaten young enough to still be tender, can be edible!  Color could indicate the gourds on the table that have this property.

"Atomic Structure" for the Gourds

There are aspects of each gourd to be shared on a periodic table of gourds: whether or not the gourd is generally eaten, whether or not it can be decorated, what color is it when harvested, and if it dehydrates to a hard shell or rots.  Although further adjustments can be made to this structure, we have a beginning:

A picture might be nice - it would certainly clarify the food or decoration indicator.  For example, in the case of this structure for Pumpkin, a variety of it would be a Ghost Pumpkin which is white. Some variegated varieties could also exist. If so, the changes would be W-white, V-varigated, and so on. This makes me wonder, what would the list of options be for the gourd atomic structure indicators be?

Extending those divisions...

Extending those divisions a little further out from the previous posts, the chart is taking on a chart-like appearance to keep order. The edible and inedible groups have subgroups that are further divided. So far this is how the gourd chart stands:

It is a bit rough, but with a little more research it is bound to grow. Right now, it is clear the luffa gourd

Potential Division for this Periodic Table

Gourds

edible / inedible

winter squashes and summer squashes   /   hard shelled and ornamental

pumpkins, butternut squash, acorn squash and zuchinni, yellow squash   /    

AND, there is still some thought processes going on about what divisions go next....

Comparing Divisions

It is interesting to note how different gourd classification charts identify different categories such the one made by Carolyn Rushton (seen below) where the gourds are named by shape or original purpose (?).

However the charts made by Dan Dunkin shown in the January 23 post, divides gourds into three broad categories then identifies subcategories. For example, one chart is Long Gourds and had 12 types of long gourds. Compare this to the Rushton chart which includes 3 long gourds along with others. Compare these two ways of considering divisions to the chart provided by Timothy Moyers which includes more long gourds than the Rushton chart but keeps the one-chart concept instead of 3 pages.




As stated in the January 23 post, Dan Dunkin's chart on the Alabama Gourd Society's website (although colorful and informative) seems to have some inconsistencies: there are long gourds on the small/bushel page, and pinched-in bottle type gourds on the small/bushel page when they should be on the bottle gourd page?

          

A blending of the Rushton, Moyers, and Dunkin charts would be the Michigan Gourd Society's chart that incorporates color but seems to visually divide the gourds into 3 groups: long, bottle-necked, and bulbous.

Classification of gourds

The Natural Resources Conservation Services offers a classification of plants leading to gourds. It begins with the Kingdom Plantae (plants) and subdivides into Division, Class, Order, and then Family - Cucurbitaceae (cucumber) before getting to the Genus Cucurbita L.  - gourd. The subspecies and Varieties just continue from there.

Soft-Shelled gourds - Colorful and can dry
to a hard skin, but not a thick skin

Miekal and Elizabeth Was explain the gourd varieties as being of two branches: soft shelled and hard shelled gourds. Soft shelled, also called ornamental, gourds are "cucurbita pepo" and having "large yellow edible flowers." These are the colorful gourds found in the grocery store or farmer's markets in the fall and used as decorations for Halloween or Thanksgiving. They can dehydrate to a hard surface and be crafted into decorative or maybe even utilitarian items, but they tend to have a thin shell. Soft shell gourds would be spoon, canteen, and warty gourds.

Hard shelled gourds "lagenaria siceraria" with smaller white flowers tend to have thicker walls when dehydrated and therefore making them better for crafting. Bushel, kettle, and some canteens can have walls requiring power tools to open them for crafting. Bowls, drums, and jars are made from hard shelled gourds. They are generally green or green speckled when newly harvested, but then dehydrate to a brown/tan color covered with dirt and molds which can be washed off before crafting.

 Vickie Henderson Art provides an explanation
about how to clean gourds for crafting.

Dividing Gourds into Categories and Groups

It seems all periodic tables are divided into some kind of arrangement, depending on the topic being 'periodic tabled'. The American Gourd Society has a lot of information about gourds of course, and the charts of gourd types is helpful as a visual start.

The charts divide the hard shelled gourds into 3 groups: long gourds, kettle/bottle gourds, and small/other gourds.  However, by looking at the shape, it would seem some gourds should be on a different chart. It is unclear why the Mexican bottle, Hyakunari, and Sennari are not with the kettle/bottle gourds. Perhaps the bushel and canteen gourds belong with the small/other gourds?  Bushel gourds are known for NOT being small, so why on the small/other chart?

Back to the basics, before these were put into groups, what are the categories of gourds overall?

A world of Periodic Tables

Exploring the internet for the last post made clear there are a wide and almost unending field of periodic tables!  Changing the keywords in a search engine's inquiry box will generate a multitude of periodic table examples, involving any interest a person might have.

This morning's simple search resulted in such a wide array of periodic tables, it could be considered a rabbit hole of periodic tables! There were tables for the Muppets, Elephants, Paleo Foods, Snack Foods, Desserts, Wine, Korean Food, Meat (a LOT of foodie tables!), Giant Robots, the Internet, Typography & Fonts, and by golly a Periodic Table of Tables! The results were ongoing!

A May 18, 2016 blog post on CogDogBlog.

Surely a periodic table of gourds needs to be in the mix!  It is time to figure out the parts of a table so the world of gourds can be put into categories and groups.

Additional defining information about gourds...

Dictionary.com defines gourd [gawrd, gohrd, goo rd] as a noun. There are several descriptions:

"1. the hard-shelled fruit of any of various plants, especially those of Lagenaria siceraria (white-flowered gourd or bottle gourd) whose dried shell is used for bowls and other utensils, and Cucurbita pepo (yellow-flowered gourd) used ornamentally.

2. a plant bearing such a fruit.

3. a dried and excavated gourd shell used as a bottle, dipper, flask, etc.

4. a gourd-shaped, small-necked bottle or flask.Idioms

5.out of /off one's gourd, Slang. out of one's mind; crazy." There are many of these slang/wordplay terms: it's a gourdous day, best regourds, it's a gourd day in the neighborhood, OH my Gourd!

Continuing further, Dictionary.com offers an explanation for a gourd family: "noun, the plant family Cucurbitaceae, characterized by tendril-bearing vines, either trailing or climbing and having alternate, palmately-lobed leaves, often large yellow or greenish flowers, and many-seeded, fleshy fruit with a hard rind, and including the cucumber, gourd, melon, pumpkin, and squash."

All this would suggest the plant family Cucurbitaceae would be divided into groups including some edible and some inedible plants. However, there must be a deeper explanation. Plants are classified. the USDA offers a classification on its Natural Resources Classification Services page. What divisions are there, and how can they be applied to the periodic chart of gourds?

Right at the start...

What is a gourd?  A gourd is a plant within a family of plants called Cucurbits. Some are edible and some are inedible. Pumpkins and butternut squash are nutritious and fibrous gourds eaten as pies and side dishes. Other gourds such as bushel and penguin gourds have hard shells and can be used as decorative or utilitarian items.

These distinctions will be the basis of the differences between gourds because periodic tables have divisions as well. Whether the table is about the traditional chemical elements, superheroes, vegetables, or design techniques, it needs to have a overall plan of categories for logical order.

Periodic Table of Kitchen Spices

The Basics, Periodically Speaking

The most basic question to start this investigation is what IS a periodic table? A periodic table is "a table of the chemical elements arranged in order of atomic number, usually in rows, so that elements with similar atomic structure (and hence similar chemical properties) appear in vertical columns."

Taken as a gourd project, the definition would a table of gourds arranged in order. Of course, the order would concern the plant family and plant order among all vegetation.  The periodic table of chemical elements involves atomic structure (as shown in the dynamic link about the elements), and the periodic table of typefaces used information surrounding the design of the font.

Periodic Element information

Periodic Table of Typefaces

Gourds will have information it can use as identifiers as well. What would information be for a gourd periodic table?

Welcome!

Periodic tables come in all sizes and shapes with various topics.  There is the Periodic Table of NYC Trash, the Periodic Table of Typeface Fonts, the Periodic Table of Vegetables. Why not a Periodic Table of Gourds? Join this exploration of developing a system for gourds in the scientific style of a table.

A blank table is where it all begins!

from Printable Tables