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00:01My name's Mike Rowe. That's my job.
00:06I explore the country looking for people who aren't afraid to get dirty.
00:10We have seven goat hides in a tub filled with lime.
00:13Now it's like a cooking show.
00:14Hard-working men and women who earn an honest living.
00:17I'd like to hire you on, Mike. You're doing a good job.
00:19Put you in touch with my agent.
00:20Doing the kinds of jobs that make civilized life possible for the rest of us.
00:24Now get ready to get dirty.
00:30Coming up on Dirty Jobs.
00:31Our company basically sucks. You're muck suckers.
00:33It's hard to say what exactly is at the bottom of this murky lake.
00:37We call this silt. You don't find clean silt around here.
00:40But I can tell you this much. It's not clean. It's not good.
00:43And it's their job to dredge it out.
00:45We work under the water. We go where the action is.
00:47We have big hoses, little hoses.
00:49It takes a giant sack and a huge hose.
00:51And no matter how good you are at it, you still suck.
00:54You care about every little cramp.
00:55Oh, sure. Guess you're getting a water pot right now.
01:00And later, a lot of people watch this show and say, that guy is out of his gourd.
01:04What is a gourd?
01:05It is in the cucumber family and it's a fruit.
01:08Well, this time, I'll be getting into my gourd by making it.
01:11Right about there?
01:12Yeah, it looks pretty good.
01:13I'd like to hear a little more enthusiasm from you, Roger.
01:15Turning a gourd into a gift item is a great way to get good and messy.
01:19But if you do it enough...
01:20Sometimes you get a little bit more creative and make some masks.
01:23You can also mess with your head.
01:24By day, you're in here making whimsical figures.
01:28Yeah, cute things.
01:29But in your off hours, you're deeply...
01:31You're twisted up.
01:35Oh, God.
01:35Good morning.
01:50I'd love to tell you exactly where I am and precisely what I'm going to be doing today.
01:53But as usual, I'm not completely certain about either one of those things.
01:56I do know that we're in the great state of Connecticut, in the middle of the woods somewhere.
02:00And we're going to be working with lakes and, of course, people wearing shirts that say aqua cleaner.
02:06Yes, sir.
02:06What's your name?
02:07Steve.
02:08Steve, nice to meet you.
02:09I'm Mike.
02:09This is your van?
02:10Yep.
02:11Come over here and take a look at Steve's van.
02:13This is great.
02:14I think we're going to be working out of this today.
02:16As you can see, we basically walked into a kind of campsite.
02:20And there are a lot of guys like Steve who are wearing identical shirts,
02:23which leads me to believe they're functioning as some sort of team.
02:27What's this all about?
02:29Here, this one.
02:30This is our lake rescue vehicle.
02:32Lake rescue?
02:33All right.
02:35I'll come back to this.
02:37We're going to need to be rescued.
02:41Permission to come aboard?
02:42Sure.
02:44Come on in.
02:45Mike.
02:45Jerry Davis.
02:46How are you, Mike?
02:46Jerry, great.
02:47And Mike Garrett.
02:48Garrett.
02:49How are we, Jay?
02:49Good morning.
02:50How are we?
02:50Aqua Gail.
02:52Jennifer.
02:53Okay, can I sit down here for a second?
02:55Sure.
02:55What goes on here, man?
02:57Well, where am I?
02:58We are in the middle of the woods in Goshen, Connecticut.
03:04Why?
03:05Well, Jerry has established a business that is crazy enough, removing weeds and muck from lakes.
03:13What's up with the weeds?
03:15Why do they have to be removed?
03:17Well, throughout this whole country, invasive species of weeds that came from other countries by contamination from bottom of boats or whatever means have been dropped into our lakes, pond streams, and have overtaken the complete lakes.
03:33We're talking about illegal immigration on a weed level, really.
03:38On a biological level.
03:39On a biological level, we're dealing with immigration issues here.
03:42You've got them from Japan, you've got them from China, you've got weeds from all kinds of different places.
03:46They come out of people's fish bowls, they throw them in the water, and ten years later, the lake has some crazy Japanese plant in it.
03:52But to the level that they're so aggressive, they kill the native plants, choke out the wildlife in the lake, and basically kill the lake.
04:01Well, this is a disturbing metaphor for any number of larger issues going on in the country right now.
04:06Absolutely.
04:06All right, so I don't see a lake here, but I see extreme mobility, so we're going to drive to the lake?
04:13Well, Mike, we're a traveling road show, and we go where the action is.
04:17So we landed in Connecticut, we came with ten guys and three motorhomes.
04:22I mean, we work under the water, we go where the action is, so we're bottom dwellers.
04:26So we have scuba gear all over the place, we have big hoses, little hoses, we're in the hose business, too.
04:31How many hose would you say you have working here now?
04:34That's a sticky question.
04:39Never enough.
04:40Our company basically sucks.
04:42Muck.
04:42Muck.
04:43You're muck suckers.
04:44Muck suckers.
04:44Bottom dwellers.
04:45Bottom dwelling suckers of muck.
04:47What is with the ambulance?
04:48It is probably the perfect vehicle for this operation.
04:52Well, I can't wait.
04:53I'd like to see it now, if that's cool.
04:54Sure.
04:55This is our organization system.
04:58This is the interior.
04:59Our changing room, our storage room.
05:01We have a mobile dressing room.
05:03Obviously.
05:04Obviously.
05:04Sure.
05:05Sure.
05:05With all the hosing going on, you needed a changing room.
05:08Oh, yeah.
05:09Prior to this ambulance, when you needed something, it was a freaking scavenger.
05:13Sure.
05:14Let me sum this up.
05:15You are both from New York.
05:17Sure.
05:18You travel around the country with your little caravan here.
05:22You go to where the lakes are.
05:25Yes.
05:25And you suck the weeds out.
05:26Where's the lake that we're actually working on?
05:28It's in Warren, Connecticut.
05:30It's called Lake Waramug.
05:32Waramug?
05:33Waramug.
05:33And the view there is absolutely stunning.
05:35And the property you're going to be working on is absolutely gorgeous.
05:39So we're off to rescue Lake Waramug.
05:42This lake sits on a picturesque 95-acre state park, though the actual water that we'll be
05:49cleaning belongs to a private owner.
05:51All right, here we are.
06:00Don't know where we are.
06:01So what do we got here?
06:03We have a bag.
06:04We have an extremely large bag.
06:06This bag separates the water, filters it out, and lets it back into the ecosystem.
06:12How much does this bag weigh?
06:14This bag's going to weigh approximately 700, 800 pounds.
06:19All right.
06:20And when it's full?
06:21Forget it.
06:23This bag's going to hold...
06:24This is tons.
06:24This is going to hold 150,000 gallons of water, approximately.
06:28You know what?
06:28I probably should make myself useful.
06:30Sure.
06:31This bag is made of a porous plastic.
06:33After it's pumped full from the lake, water will slowly flow out while silt is retained inside.
06:39Everybody grab a ring.
06:41When rolled out, it's about 100 feet long.
06:43The key to putting this bag down has to do with levelness and pitch so that when this
06:48water drains out of the bag every day and it's going to drain out all day long and all
06:52night long, that we A, don't flood the house, and B, that we manage the water so that it
06:57goes in a nice, safe place.
06:58Don't miss.
06:59I hardly ever do it.
07:01Hardly.
07:02Pieces of steel rebar are secured to the bag to hold it in place.
07:06This is the filling hole.
07:08What we're going to do is we're going to shove our hoses in here, slide the hose in in
07:12that direction.
07:13Okay.
07:13So that the water's going to shoot towards the middle of the bag.
07:16Brian, take a couple of guys.
07:18You already...
07:18Hello.
07:18In order to get this to lock, this fitting has to be all the way in.
07:24Sometimes the first couple inches are always the toughest, you know?
07:27You've got to smack that thing.
07:29Boss.
07:29Oh.
07:30There you go.
07:31There we go.
07:31Okay, we'll lock.
07:32Good flying.
07:37What you doing, Jennifer?
07:38Oh, I'm just lubing up your suit for you, so it's a little easier to zip when you get
07:42in the water.
07:43That's nice of you.
07:43Yeah.
07:44Appreciate it.
07:45What are you using, Tloub?
07:46I'm using Vaseline.
07:47All right.
07:48It's important because you're going into a pretty nasty environment, even by your standards,
07:53I would guess.
07:54And the suit offers you a lot of protection above and beyond keeping you warm.
07:58It'll keep leeches off you and various other assorted lovely, you know, marine creatures.
08:03That's a dry suit, obviously.
08:04That is a dry suit.
08:05Can I keep this on?
08:06Absolutely.
08:07You jump in just like James Bond.
08:08You can go in, work for six hours, and leave and go to a party.
08:11People confuse me with James Bond all the time.
08:13You know, I figured as much.
08:14Look at you, dude.
08:15I just have to take you in for a sec.
08:18Nothing in your size?
08:20We didn't know.
08:22This is going to be nice and easy.
08:24Uh-huh.
08:24It's going to keep you dry.
08:27He's a pretty good shape.
08:28Bond.
08:28It's the illusion of fitness, aren't you, Shuri?
08:30I'm swelling up like a tick.
08:33Being on the road is rough, but that's for sure.
08:36Look at that, baby.
08:37Good tool needs a good shed.
08:38You can make it come in and out.
08:39Ready?
08:39Yeah, here you go.
08:40Look at this.
08:41It's a star face.
08:42You get in and out of the water.
08:43Sure.
08:44It's very important.
08:47Goes in nice and easy.
08:49It's teamwork.
08:50It is teamwork.
08:50It's nice.
08:52Like Jerry said.
08:53Morning.
08:53How's it going?
08:54A little tight.
08:55Yeah.
08:56That's a real form fitter.
08:57I've never seen you from this angle before.
08:59How about this one?
09:01Yeah.
09:02Makes an impression.
09:03Coming up.
09:04Now you see the color?
09:05That's dark.
09:06Now you know you're pumping muck.
09:08So why don't you take a deep breath, go down and see if you can shoot this.
09:11You can't shoot in murky, mucky water.
09:14But it can shoot you.
09:15It's really nice when it's coming at you 100 miles an hour.
09:19And later.
09:19Whatever you can envision, you can make out of these.
09:22I can envision quite a bit.
09:23In the right hands, a gourd can be turned into almost anything.
09:26You want to have a good dribble on it, or it's actually going to fly against the wall.
09:30Even a flying object.
09:33That's what happened.
09:34That's a little rocky, big rock just like this.
09:47I like walking in backwards, so this way if I'm going to fall, at least I go face forward.
09:51There you go.
09:52What do you mean?
09:52Why is it good to go face forward?
09:54Well, if you fall in the water face forward, you're never going to find yourself.
09:57You'll be sitting floating.
09:58These suits will keep you floating.
09:59This is where you have some control.
10:01There we go.
10:01Right, right.
10:01Yeah, I got control.
10:02You look like the, what's that white fluffy, the fluffy guy?
10:05The Stay Puft Marshmallow guy.
10:06The Stay Puft Marshmallow guy.
10:09I'm going to see it like his evil twin brother.
10:11Here is our five-inch nozzle.
10:14It looks an awful lot like a pitchfork.
10:15No, this is the pitchfork.
10:17Okay.
10:17This is the nozzle.
10:18Uh-huh.
10:18Now, the reason we have the pitchfork attached to it is because we work on the bottom.
10:22Put the pitchfork on to give us an added three feet of control so we can stand where
10:26we are right now and still work the bottom.
10:28Great.
10:28Otherwise, we're putting the air gear on and we're going right on.
10:30Then we're going it.
10:31Okay.
10:31Now, let me give you a little idea of what's going on down here.
10:34Stick your hand down in the bottom.
10:36Pull up.
10:36See what you can grab.
10:38Oh, that's my foot.
10:39Well, then we don't want that.
10:41All right.
10:42Now, that's what you typically find on the bottom of a lake or a pond around somebody's house.
10:47Okay.
10:47You don't have, we call this silt.
10:49You don't find clean silt around here.
10:51No such thing.
10:51Hence why we made the dirty dredger.
10:54Why is it bad to have this in the lake, though?
10:56I mean, why is this, you know?
10:57It's not.
10:58It's just accumulated over the years.
10:59Now, if you wanted to go in here and take a swim, you wouldn't want to step on this.
11:03No, I wouldn't.
11:03Exactly.
11:04So, what we're going to do is you're going to clear debris and then take the nozzle and
11:07put it in when you know you have relatively soft stuff.
11:10Okay.
11:11All right.
11:11Now, all we're going to do is grab the handle here and bring it down and feel the bottom.
11:16And just bob it down and lift it up.
11:18Push it down and lift it up.
11:20Okay.
11:20You're just holding it one there?
11:21Holding here and holding here.
11:22Right.
11:23Sticking it into the bottom.
11:24Yes.
11:25And just pushing down.
11:26And don't leave it down there because you need to mix it with water.
11:29So, you push it down.
11:30One Mississippi, two Mississippi.
11:32And then pull it up.
11:32Lift it up.
11:33All right.
11:33So, you've got it.
11:35I mean, the water in this case acts as a kind of...
11:37Slurry.
11:37It's slurry.
11:38So, it helps it along.
11:39We create a slurry on its own by just keeping the nozzle a little off the bottom.
11:44Ready to fire up the engines?
11:45Fire it up.
11:45All right, Brian.
11:46Let's fire them up.
11:47I'll hold the hose for you so you can get a good angle on it.
11:53All right.
11:54Up and down.
11:55And...
11:56There you go.
11:59This is it?
12:00This is it.
12:01Stand in one spot and dig yourself a hole.
12:05I'll dig a hole.
12:06Until you can't hit the hard bottom.
12:09Or do your head go under water?
12:11Well, wait a minute.
12:12So, there's a hard bottom under the silk?
12:13There is a natural hard bottom under the silk.
12:15And our job is to recover it and restore it.
12:19This part of the lake that we're cleaning has been sectioned off by a turbidity curtain,
12:23which is made from the same material as the bag we set up earlier.
12:27This curtain acts as a wall to keep the silt from the lake out while letting the water flow through.
12:32Now you see the color?
12:33What color is it?
12:34That's dark.
12:35Now you know you're pumping muck.
12:36Pumping muck.
12:37You're pumping muck.
12:38We can't see anything.
12:39Now look at it bubbling.
12:40Sulfur dioxide.
12:42Actually, that was me.
12:42So, what's going on down there?
12:46We're kicking stuff loose.
12:47Leaves and other organic debris.
12:50For a water ecosystem, this stuff is very disruptive.
12:54The client here had huge amounts of algae, green clumps on the top of the water.
12:59He wants the place to look nice, so we're going to dredge it out and take all that organic nutrients out of the water.
13:04And while I was chest deep pumping the muck, I realized we had a small problem.
13:09It's a very complicated shoot because the work is happening where we can't see it, and it's really loud.
13:16I'm going to be coming from over there.
13:19So, we got audio issues and we got visual issues.
13:22But aside from the audio and the visual, you know, the TV thing is solid.
13:25So, we thought we'd give it another try.
13:29Doug, why don't you take a deep breath and go down and see if you can shoot this.
13:32Okay.
13:32As you can see, the water is just too murky.
13:46There's nothing to see unless I lift this up.
13:51The real work's up there.
13:53That is.
13:54And not only the guy gets the easy job, he just has to suck it up once.
13:57It's everybody else that has to play with it afterwards.
13:59Right.
14:00All right.
14:00So, as jobs go, I mean, how many real jobs are there?
14:04This is the suction harvesting position.
14:06Right.
14:06There's the bagging position on the barge.
14:09Right.
14:09And there's also the guy who maintains the engine speed and keeps all the pipes running.
14:15And so, since we couldn't show you what's happening at this end of the pump,
14:18I thought I'd take you to the other end.
14:22Now, basically, this is going to go on nonstop, old bolt.
14:26I'll show you how to put the bags on.
14:27Right down here, you're going to feel two hooks.
14:29Pull it up.
14:30Over the top.
14:31Grab it.
14:33Over the top.
14:35Twist it.
14:36Pull this down.
14:36Lock the bag.
14:44That's the top of your bag.
14:45Grab your two hooks.
14:46Get on the bag.
14:48Get on the bag on that side.
14:51Get on the bag.
14:52Bring it up.
14:53Bring it under.
14:54Give it a twist.
14:58Let me do it, Al.
14:59I'll never learn if I don't do it.
15:01I'll never learn.
15:01I'll just go through the rest of my life.
15:03A dumbass who can't put a bag on.
15:07Twist.
15:08Twist it.
15:09Go up.
15:09Go under.
15:10Under.
15:11Get on the bag.
15:18We're going to turn and come around.
15:21You have to go over the bottom there.
15:22All right, let's do it again.
15:24There we go.
15:25Lock it down.
15:27There you go.
15:28Lock it down.
15:29There you go.
15:30You're ready for this.
15:31I'm ready for this.
15:32We're going to start scooping.
15:33This box that I'm submerged in was invented by Howard, and it's affectionately referred
15:39to by the rest of the guys as the coffin.
15:42The way it works is, once the muck gets sucked into the trough, the red onion bags will filter
15:48all of the solids, and the rest of the dirty water and sediment will be pumped into the bag
15:53from this morning.
15:53You care about every little print.
15:55Oh, sure.
15:56Every little tiny, friggin' thing.
15:58As you get to the water park right now, these things are filling fast.
16:02It's really nice when it's coming at you 100 miles an hour.
16:05For a job this size, these guys will typically fill about 1,000 of these bags.
16:10Who did this one?
16:13No.
16:14I'll get you another one.
16:15Today, I think I did about eight.
16:17Howie, I could take a hit.
16:26Steve, why don't you get back in here?
16:28You quitting, I mean?
16:29No, I'm not quitting.
16:30It's a pleasure.
16:31I'm just leaving forever.
16:32Okay.
16:34Thanks, bud.
16:35Wow.
16:36Good education.
16:37Back in.
16:39Why don't you take a big for it?
16:41That's fine.
16:43So this is how it ends?
16:45This is how it ends.
16:46After day one, your bag has maybe four and a half, five, four feet to go.
16:52Oh, yeah.
16:52We're just warming up.
16:53The first day is always testing it and making sure we can control the water, and the bag is
16:56going to stay nice and do its job.
16:58All these years doing this, no one's ever given me a cigar at the end of the day.
17:01Really?
17:01I appreciate that.
17:02Oh, God.
17:03I appreciate you coming out here.
17:04No, no, and it's cool, too.
17:05You got the ambulance waiting, too.
17:06Maybe we can take a ride in that now.
17:07I would love to.
17:08You mind if I drive?
17:09No, absolutely not.
17:09I've never driven an ambulance before.
17:12Coming up.
17:13What in the heck is over there?
17:14Those are kind of like personal pastimes.
17:16What exactly goes on in your personal life, Carl?
17:19What lies behind the mask of a gourd maker?
17:22You don't want to know.
17:23By day, you're in here making whimsical figures.
17:27When you deal with cute so much throughout the day, the ugliness has to come out somewhere.
17:30That's a gourd right there.
17:39There's another one.
17:40They're everywhere, just lying on the ground.
17:43Do you know what a gourd is?
17:44I don't either.
17:46But check this out.
17:49This is also a gourd.
17:50It's been transformed into a bunny.
17:54This one's a penguin.
17:57Today, I've come to Carlisle, Pennsylvania to find out what a gourd is, how you go about
18:00the process of turning them into animals with designs on their bellies.
18:05And most importantly, why?
18:10You're Sean.
18:10Yes.
18:11I'm Mike.
18:12Hi.
18:12Nice to meet you, Mike.
18:13Nice to meet you.
18:15Uh, Meadowbrook?
18:16That is correct.
18:17Meadowbrook gourds in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
18:19These don't look like the gourds I just saw out there in the field, though.
18:22What's a...
18:22No, these have sat over the winter, and they are now dried gourds, so these have a hard
18:27exterior shell that we now can work with.
18:30Mm-hmm.
18:30When you say work with, what exactly does that entail?
18:34Well, they need washed off.
18:35As you can see right now, they're really dirty.
18:37Dirty gourds.
18:38Yep, dirty, dirty gourds.
18:39After they're washed off, then it's up to whatever your imagination can make out of them
18:44that you can do to them.
18:46My imagination, as you may know, is...
18:48Yes.
18:49Fertile.
18:49Mm-hmm.
18:50What is a gourd?
18:53It is in the cucumber family.
18:55It is a fruit.
18:57Squash and pumpkins are very closely related to it as well.
19:01Can you eat it?
19:03They do in some countries when they are very young and fresh off the vine.
19:08At this stage, they are nowhere near edible.
19:11Whatever you can envision out of these, you can make out of these.
19:18I can envision quite a bit.
19:19Mm-hmm.
19:19That would be the washing area?
19:23That is the washroom.
19:24They're going to go into the big wash tank, and they're going to get the outsides of them
19:29washed in a batch.
19:31How careful should I be with the gourds?
19:33You can bang ease around at this point in time.
19:35If they break now, that means we didn't want to make them in the first place.
19:38All right.
19:39All right.
19:51That's the easy part.
19:52Now we've got to do the rest by hand.
19:54It's basically like a little swimming pool with an agitator run by a series of belts and a motor.
20:07Yep.
20:07A whole bunch of high-pressure washers.
20:13There you go.
20:14How long does it take them to go through their cycle?
20:18About an hour and a half to two hours.
20:20What's your guy doing over there?
20:22Roger is washing out the insides of gourds, and that's who I'm going to hand you off to
20:26next.
20:33Almost forgot my bunny.
20:35Roger?
20:36Hey, how you doing, Mike?
20:37Good.
20:37How you doing?
20:38Doing good.
20:38Washing a few gourds.
20:39Yeah, you mind if I put my buddy up here?
20:42Well, go ahead and check him up there.
20:43You're a mess.
20:45A little bit.
20:45They get a little floppy doing this.
20:47This is what they look like before they're cleaned out.
20:51You pull any of it out or just go right in with it?
20:52You don't need to pull any of it out.
20:54The water itself, you want to have a good grip on it, or it's actually going to fly against
20:58the wall.
21:04That's what happened.
21:06A lot of pressure behind it.
21:07We have anywhere from 1,600 to 1,900 pounds of pressure.
21:15You've got to get your hand out of there fast.
21:16It hurts.
21:17Yeah, it does.
21:18This is going to be a scarecrown.
21:19You have the top, which is going to be dyed brown.
21:22The bottom will be natural, and then around this scallop cut, there's going to be straw
21:26coming out the sides.
21:27What did you do before this?
21:29I worked in warehouses and different things like that.
21:32Used to build fences and decks and a little bit of remodeling, but...
21:35So, I mean, this is kind of artistic.
21:38It is artistic, and I'm not artistic.
21:40So, the things, you know, this room suits me just perfectly.
21:43I don't come up with the designs or anything like that.
21:45Not by cup of tea.
21:47I don't know how to break it to you.
21:48You're a borderline artist.
21:49You're doing the cut.
21:50You're involved.
21:52You're involved.
21:53I've seen better scallop cut, but that's going to look too bad.
22:02So, really, then it goes washing, cutting.
22:07I guess you sort, right?
22:08Because it looks like these are all basically the same size.
22:10Yeah, these are all what we call a four-inch gourd.
22:13We have our sizing board right here.
22:14Basically, if it sits on there, that would be a five-inch gourd.
22:20That's a five-incher right there.
22:20Now, since that goes through and sits on the floor, that's actually a four-inch gourd.
22:25What are these going to be, by the way?
22:28This product here is actually going to be an angel or a snowman.
22:32It's for QVC.
22:35I'm laughing.
22:36Yeah, I know QVC.
22:37Welcome back, everybody.
22:43Our next item, thank you, Dave, is being brought to me right now.
22:47As you can see, it's a Santa Claus made out of a gourd.
22:51It's a good-looking Santa.
22:53You get a nice, tight shot here.
22:54You can see Santa's actually knotted off.
22:57Velma the witch is a great example of the kind of craftsmanship and attention to detail you can expect.
23:03As you can see, she's smiling.
23:06She's smiling.
23:07She's a happy witch.
23:08This in spite of the obvious leprosy that's invaded the bulk of her torso.
23:12And here we have a scarecrow head.
23:15Trademark corn jutting from underneath his hat.
23:18And he's smiling.
23:19It is difficult, nay, impossible, to find an unhappy gourd.
23:23Here at Meadowbrook, we've seen Frosty many times.
23:26You know, the corncob pipe, button nose, couple eyes made out of, well, in this case, two small slits.
23:32They didn't go with the coal, but the top hat is there.
23:34You can get the pair for $38.29.
23:38And you can also spread that out in nine convenient payments of $1.09.
23:45Say hello to Angela.
23:47Angela is an angel, and I think it's obvious at a glance there's no mistaking this little beauty or what she's all about.
23:54Just take a look at that face.
23:56She's $46.99.
23:58How do you say no to a heavenly host at this time of year?
24:02First thing we're going to do, some of these gourds might still have a little bit of skin on them.
24:13Didn't all come off of the tank over there.
24:16We have the grinding wheel here.
24:17So at what point, Roger, do you stop seeing it as a gourd and start seeing it as an angel?
24:25Pretty much right away, whenever it was designed.
24:27Okay.
24:27They picked up that gourd.
24:28Oh, I can make an angel all of that.
24:29That's an angel.
24:30So, okay.
24:31The designer sees it first.
24:34A lot of times you will not see it.
24:36Yeah.
24:36I mean, a lot of people are going to look at this, and they're not going to see an angel right away.
24:39Nope.
24:39Coming up.
24:42Maybe she needs a friend.
24:43Well, what kind of friend would you like for it?
24:45Somebody that she can hang out with and make little rabbits with.
24:48A perfect match that begins in a patch.
24:50But instead of a bow and arrow, Cupid uses a jigsaw.
24:53Ah.
24:54Is it getting manlier yet?
24:56No.
24:57And he needs help with his aim.
24:58There you go.
24:59Pine tree with his root system intact.
25:01We started out with about 30 standard varieties of boards, and then through the years, we
25:13actually produced hybrids.
25:15We can actually cross-grade a bottle and possibly that kettle board and make different shapes.
25:20We actually have the potential of growing about 150 different sizes and shapes right
25:24now.
25:25Now, that board there is eventually going to be a birdhouse.
25:27That's the one we use the two-inch hole and actually we punch it into the side.
25:32That flat spot is where the gourd was sitting out in the field.
25:35Like this?
25:36That's how it grew?
25:37Pretty much.
25:39Sometimes these necks really take a long time, of course.
25:42We get a lot of skin on them.
25:43Sure.
25:44We just go back and forth.
25:45Now, some people like extra skin on them.
25:48We actually don't try to leave the skin on there.
25:51We try to take it as much off as we can.
25:52I'm with you.
25:53Easier to clean.
25:55Tell me I got it right.
25:56Right about there?
25:57Yeah, it looks pretty good.
25:58I'd like to hear a little more enthusiasm from you, Roger.
26:00Oh, you're right there.
26:10Now, that's going to be a really large bird.
26:13Oh, yeah.
26:14Yeah, the two-inch bet.
26:15That's a big bird, yeah.
26:17Big old bird.
26:18But big birds need homes too.
26:19You bet they do.
26:21That's a bird you can be proud of.
26:23As far as hole placement, it's perfect.
26:26Good.
26:26All right, this would be the drying room.
26:32It's very warm in here.
26:33It's called the drying room because after the gourds are washed, this is where they're brought
26:37to dry out.
26:39You're the smartest host in the land.
26:41Yeah.
26:42On my way to the cutting room.
26:43I'm pretty sure that's where they cut the gourds.
26:45Honestly, you're a genius.
26:47You should get a real job one day.
26:48So intelligent.
26:55This would be the cutting room.
27:03And you would be Carl?
27:05I would be Carl.
27:06Nice to meet you.
27:07How are you doing?
27:08I'm good.
27:08What are you making?
27:09This is a jack-o-lantern.
27:11Uh-huh.
27:12I'm just cutting some triangles out.
27:14Putting in the eyes.
27:15And putting in the mouth.
27:16Yeah.
27:16It's got a bit of a cone head going there.
27:18Yeah.
27:19Yep.
27:19Kind of one of our different type of products.
27:22Uh-huh.
27:28All the eye patterns and the nose patterns.
27:34We're there already.
27:35What in the heck is over there?
27:37Oh.
27:38Well, sometimes I get a little bit more creative and make some masks.
27:43So, that's what's over in this area.
27:47You did these two?
27:48Uh, yeah.
27:49Those are kind of like personal pastimes.
27:52What exactly goes on in your personal life, Carl?
27:55What is this?
27:56Um, just a creation out of my own mind, really.
28:00It's quite a mouth you put on.
28:00It doesn't really have a name or a purpose or anything like that.
28:03It's just a Halloween mask.
28:05Well, as you put it on, you'll notice how limited your vision is.
28:08So, by day, you're in here making whimsical figures, angels, maybe a jack-o'-lantern.
28:15Yeah, cute things.
28:16But in your off hours, you're deeply...
28:18I make ugly things.
28:19You're twisted up.
28:20This is a...
28:21What was this?
28:22When you deal with cute so much throughout the day, the ugliness has to come out somewhere.
28:26But believe me, when I go home, I get myself as clean as can be, sit around with fine china,
28:32sip drambooing.
28:33I bet.
28:35If you put this on, this chin action might not work for you.
28:39Then again, it might.
28:40You see Eyes Wide Shut?
28:41Love that movie.
28:43Your head can't be bigger than mine.
28:45I'm afraid it is.
28:46What?
28:47There you go.
28:49How long have you been doing this?
28:51Ten years.
28:52And how did you get into it?
28:54Adding a paper.
28:55It's a crafter needed.
28:56I have an art background.
28:58Crafter?
28:59Well, why not?
29:00You're not selling these anywhere?
29:03Just for fun.
29:05These are all just for fun.
29:06Well, I'm sorry.
29:07This is...
29:07I've become hopelessly distracted by your, uh...
29:10By your sideline of work.
29:11But I love the fact that you can go from angels to the Antichrist with, you know, out missing
29:18a beat.
29:21As long as I'm here, maybe she needs a friend.
29:25Well, what kind of friend would you like for it?
29:27I don't know.
29:28Somebody that she can hang out with and be with and, you know, make little rabbits with.
29:32I'm just thinking of something, you know, decidedly masculine.
29:35That's what the...
29:36That's what your retail environment needs here.
29:38Yeah.
29:39You know, you need a dude, man.
29:40You need a...
29:41They don't sell all that well, you know.
29:42No, they will.
29:43People like to buy female things.
29:45Yeah, yeah.
29:45All right, so let's put a face on the thing that, um, is absolutely, undeniably masculine.
29:57Rather than do something, like, crazy like a star, I'm going to go way out on a limb here
30:02and give it a belly button.
30:04Chest hair is going to be difficult.
30:06Have you ever put chest hair on a gourd before?
30:08No.
30:09Well, this is a big day for both of us.
30:11These kind of look like worms.
30:12Well, I'm working with the number two pencil.
30:15We can just cut his pupil out.
30:18Is it getting manlier yet?
30:20No.
30:23Why are you like a sailor?
30:24Right.
30:24But I want something even more definitive.
30:26What is the, uh, the symbol?
30:28I could pattern it for you.
30:30Would you?
30:30You can cut it out.
30:31That's diagonal to the right, the arrow goes.
30:34Arrow's going up the end of the right, yeah.
30:35This is what teamwork, by the way.
30:41Ah!
30:42Let me see it once.
30:44Make the whole thing bigger.
30:45The whole thing, right?
30:46Okay.
30:50It's a very tricky business here.
30:55Yes!
30:56Okay.
30:56There you go.
30:57Pine tree with its root system intact.
30:59That says male.
31:02International male.
31:03You just rest easy, little missy.
31:05I'm some company in no time.
31:06Now you're going to go over to get it all dyed up.
31:09Coming up.
31:10We'll just play around with different shapes and sizes.
31:13It's gourd sex.
31:15Yeah, guys.
31:15Gourd sex.
31:16That's what we call it here.
31:17Gourds don't have minds.
31:19It's a gorgie.
31:19Yeah.
31:20But if they did, they'd have only one thing on them.
31:22One male, if you do it right, can pollinate two females.
31:26That's a big night.
31:27When males get scarce out here, we'll go three and four to one.
31:30Whew.
31:31Whew.
31:42Hi.
31:43Hey, Mike.
31:44You are Amanda.
31:45I am.
31:46That's Barb.
31:47Hi, Barb.
31:48What exactly is that, Mike?
31:50Well, I'll tell you.
31:51It's a boy.
31:52Oh, clearly.
31:53That's right.
31:54Right.
31:54I went with the universal boy model.
31:56Good thinking.
31:57The squiggly lines.
31:58Hair?
31:59That's right.
31:59Nice.
32:00Chest hair.
32:00Nice.
32:01All one color then, huh?
32:02I don't know.
32:03Oh.
32:03I don't know.
32:04Well, there's lots to choose from.
32:05I mean, what do you think?
32:06You're the creator.
32:08Well, she's decidedly masculine.
32:11Clearly.
32:12Right.
32:12So, I mean, I'm just bronze.
32:14I mean, somewhat weathered.
32:15Well, we have walnut.
32:17Yes, I'm a big fan of the walnut.
32:18You like walnut.
32:19I do.
32:19Okay.
32:20So, is it, what, just stain?
32:21It is a leather dye.
32:23It's alcohol-based.
32:24And the nice thing about it is when you apply the dye, it doesn't leave brush strokes.
32:30How many different dyes do you have here?
32:32About ten.
32:33Mm-hmm.
32:33Mm-hmm.
32:35Nice.
32:36Well done.
32:37And you want to make sure you get the edges of those cutouts, too.
32:43How long have you been here?
32:45Oh, I don't even know.
32:47Sean's my brother.
32:48Oh, is he?
32:49Yeah.
32:49Yeah.
32:50I kind of fell into this in a very roundabout way.
32:54Is my work done here?
32:55Well, do you want to do some birdhouses?
32:57Yeah, I do.
32:58I mean, why don't we just let him dry and you and I can continue.
33:00All right, you got to take him far away.
33:02I'm just going to put him temporarily close to the bunny.
33:06Let him get used to each other.
33:11So your brother was doing this.
33:12Yeah, and I was looking just for some part-time work, you know, at that point.
33:15You weren't thinking.
33:16Get out of the house.
33:18I was not at all, no.
33:20It's a crooked road we all wander.
33:22But you know what?
33:23It works.
33:23It's a fun crowd here.
33:26I think you got it.
33:27So this is called maximize every millimeter?
33:30You got it.
33:31Don't let him touch.
33:32Well, I like what I'm seeing here.
33:33It's going to get redder after you spray them and dip them in poly.
33:39Got Kenny for you, Mike.
33:40Ken, thanks, Amanda.
33:42That's your man.
33:42Yep.
33:42How's it going?
33:43Everything's good.
33:44Just, you know, following instructions as best I can.
33:48All right, so the process we're going to do here is what again?
33:51We're actually going to spray the gourds with polycrylic, which brings out their color.
33:56Like, you see how this one's kind of dull?
33:59Well, we're going to bring the natural color of mahogany back out and make it shinier.
34:04Oh, so we're going to make them look like this, only dry.
34:07Yes.
34:08Got it.
34:12What is that that's coming out of the spray?
34:14It's a polyacrylic.
34:16And obviously it doesn't matter if it's on your hands?
34:17It's water-based, it'll wipe right off, and you just spray it until it turns back into
34:23its color and let it dry.
34:24Very cool.
34:27And so that'll dry looking shiny.
34:29Yep.
34:30Are you ready?
34:33Yes, you are.
34:42Looks good.
34:44All right.
34:44That dries, it should be nice and shiny.
34:46All right, Mike, here's where we're going to dip birdhouses.
34:51Now I'm going to show you how to do this, plug the holes quick, and do a couple on the
34:55top here.
34:56All you do is you want to grab it with one finger and just push it down here.
35:02We're dealing with a polyurethane.
35:05It's a clear coat.
35:06It's just like you'd put on a wood deck.
35:09A messy, messy job you got going here.
35:12I like it.
35:12Yeah.
35:14How long have you been doing this?
35:15Can I ask you that one?
35:16I've been here 13 years now.
35:17Oh, I didn't ask you.
35:1813 years?
35:19Yeah, at the farm.
35:20I started back when it was a produce farm.
35:22I've been dipping birdhouses for the past three.
35:26I swear.
35:27It's my favorite part of this job.
35:28I hear sentences I never knew could have otherwise existed.
35:32I've been dipping birdhouses for the last three years.
35:35You need to skip a...
35:36I do.
35:37I do.
35:38Cross pollen.
35:38Tell me more about the cross pollinating.
35:40We take different shapes and sizes of gourds and actually breed them together when we pollinate.
35:47We'll just play around with different shapes and sizes and try to get what we want until
35:52we find something and then we use those seeds.
35:54That sounds like some...
35:57It's gourd sex.
35:59You guys have gourd sex?
36:00That's what we call it here.
36:01Gourd sex?
36:02Yeah, it's gourd sex.
36:03You go out with a little Q-tip and you have gourd sex with different varieties of gourds.
36:07It's a gorgie.
36:08Yeah.
36:10Never heard it called that, but it's a new one.
36:12I'm sure we'll use it around here sometime.
36:14Yeah, I'm sure I won't get any credit for it either.
36:16All right.
36:16Now, with your guy, I would want to get as much poly in the inside of your guy as I could
36:21so that...
36:22He's slick on the inside.
36:25He's smooth and you could sit him outside then.
36:27Right.
36:27I want this guy to be weatherproof.
36:29I want a man for all seasons.
36:31Well, then just put him in there and slosh him around.
36:36Hold your breath, pal.
36:37We're going to be in here a while.
36:40Oh, bad guy.
36:43Little guy just foofed a little.
36:47Stop struggling.
36:48You're only making it worse.
36:51You're going to be the shiniest guy at the ball.
37:01How long will he take to dry?
37:02He'll take about two days to dry now.
37:04Oh, no.
37:05I need him for my big finishing clothes.
37:08Well, he'll be dry to the touch in probably a half an hour.
37:12Coming up...
37:12We're going to cross-pollinate with the gourds right now?
37:16Yes.
37:16This is a love box.
37:18Yes.
37:19If you suffer from performance anxiety...
37:21The male and the female are only good for one night.
37:24No pressure or anything, guys.
37:25The gourd patch is no place to be.
37:27A successful night is about 600.
37:29You're pollinated.
37:31I'm but one man.
37:32I'm but flesh and bone.
37:33I've never been one to pass up a gorgie, so I hitched a ride into the fields with Ben Baer,
37:49who's the man in charge of petals, stamens, pistols, pollen, and numerous other horticultural terms.
37:55Love is in the air.
38:04Love is also in the box.
38:06But that's the extent of the information I know right now.
38:10Ben, you own this property.
38:13Yes.
38:13Used to run the operation over there.
38:15The whole gourd thing, right?
38:16Used to.
38:17Sold it, and now you're just, what, like a gentleman farmer?
38:20I'm the gentleman part.
38:21I'm the farmer part, but I didn't sell it.
38:23It's run by our employees for themselves.
38:26I do the farming.
38:27I listen to them now.
38:29This is a love box.
38:33Yes.
38:34There's latex gloves, Q-tips, and that's about it in there.
38:39We're going to cross-pollinate with the gourds right now?
38:43Yes.
38:44What are we looking for immediately?
38:46We need to find some male and female flowers.
38:47I'm going to follow you and pretend I know something.
38:50All right.
38:52Look, flowers.
38:53Careful on the vines.
38:54Careful with vines.
38:55So I should not be stepping on the vines.
38:57Try not to.
38:58You realize they're everywhere.
39:00Pretty much everywhere.
39:02All right.
39:03The first thing, you need to know the difference between a male and a female.
39:07You know, all this time I thought I did.
39:10This is a male.
39:12This is a female.
39:13Now, the difference, if you look at this side, the little gourd is always there on the female,
39:20and the male only has pollen cup.
39:22Okay.
39:22Female, male.
39:23The male and the female are only good for one night.
39:26So if we pollinate it tonight, it's good.
39:28If not, it's dead anyhow.
39:30I'm not sure I follow you.
39:32This blossom is only open tonight.
39:34It will either do its business tonight, or it will be of no use.
39:38One show.
39:39One show.
39:39One show.
39:40One night.
39:40All the blossoms you see here opened up in the last hour, and they will be dead tomorrow
39:46morning about 9 o'clock.
39:48There's no pressure or anything, guys.
39:50We have to get the field done tonight.
39:52Otherwise, this is for nothing.
39:54The whole field?
39:54The whole field.
39:55Oh, come on.
39:56Yep.
39:57All right.
39:57Well, let's hurry up and start.
39:58Let's get started.
39:59Take your Q-tip, and you're digging down in here for the pollen.
40:03This was the male, right?
40:05You can actually see it on your Q-tip.
40:07You see the yellowing?
40:08I see it.
40:09It's very faint.
40:09Like earwax, right?
40:10Yeah.
40:11What you're doing is you're...
40:14We teach to roll it and then go around the top, because we really don't know how to pollinate
40:20that, so we double-do it.
40:22You cover all your bases.
40:23Cover all our bases.
40:24All right.
40:25We're done.
40:26That's pollinated?
40:26That's pollinated.
40:27Now, what do you do with it?
40:28That one's dead, because we picked it.
40:30Otherwise, we leave it here.
40:32Oh, so this happens while they're attached.
40:34Of course.
40:35I mean, geez, okay.
40:35But it's hard to show you with two different plants.
40:39Right.
40:39All right.
40:40This is turning into a very dark story.
40:43Hey, good news.
40:44You're with Gord.
40:45And you're dead.
40:48Sad.
40:49All right.
40:50Big deep.
40:51Oh, yeah.
40:51I think I've got some.
40:53I've got everything on here.
40:54Good grief.
40:55Now, you have to find the female.
40:57There's one.
40:58Yep.
40:58I know females.
41:00Now, the interesting thing is that one male can pollinate two females.
41:04That's a big night.
41:06Once upon a time, Ben.
41:08You know.
41:08And when males get scarce out here, we'll go three and four to one.
41:11Oh.
41:13Okay.
41:13Circle in the middle, and then rub it over the top.
41:16And that's done.
41:18A successful night is about 600.
41:21Pollinate it.
41:22You have one done.
41:23I'm but one man.
41:24I'm but flesh and bone.
41:26How does it happen naturally?
41:28Moths.
41:29There's a moth, a hawk moth about, they're about that wide.
41:33Mm-hmm.
41:33And they'll come out, and in about half an hour, we'll start to see them.
41:36They'll look like a hummingbird.
41:39They'll hover about four inches from the flower.
41:42And believe it or not, they hang out this proboscis.
41:44The nose.
41:44That hangs out about four inches, and they just go around a male, and they go around a female,
41:49and they just, shh, they're quick.
41:52Impressive.
41:54She probably had no idea this was going to be happening tonight.
41:57Thanks, Ben.
42:00Well, that's my day in the gourd patch.
42:02The sun is setting, and as I look around, I see confusion.
42:06I see a lot of boys and just a few girls.
42:09And that's going to make things a little hectic in about a half hour.
42:13There's going to be a whole lot of love going on out here.
42:18This much is for certain, though.
42:21Mm-hmm.
42:22Big night for her.
42:24There's my boys in the house.
42:26They got work to do.
42:28And it's going to be gorgeous.
42:33So here's the thing.
42:34I know there are a lot of dirty jobs out there.
42:37Lately, I've just come to the realization that I have to dig a little bit harder to find
42:42them, which is a nice way of saying, I need your help.
42:46So if you can think of a new, creative, fun way for me to get dirty in a new and exciting
42:53dimension, discovery.com forward slash dirty job.
42:57As soon as you can, I'd be grateful.
43:00Hey, now.
43:00Doug's been setting up his camera now for some time.
43:05You can see it hanging up there.
43:07He's breaking things now.
43:08It's a little awkward.
43:09If I were you, I'd be careful with that.
43:11I saw somebody sucked in there one day and it was horrifying.
43:14Mom?
43:16Yeah, it's Mike.
43:18Good, thanks.
43:18How are you?
43:20Well, you know how it is.
43:21Some days are better than others.
43:23Anyhow, I was just calling to say I love you.
43:26Right.
43:27Bye.
43:29I sound great in here.
43:30Yeah, good acoustics.
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