The best judge for old seed is to wet a paper towel and roll a few seeds in it, then place it in a ziploc bag and put in on the fridge for a couple of weeks. If they sprout, then you know they're good. If not, just pitch them.
You can also tell quite a bit by the color. If they are white or near white, they are no longer any good. A nice brown color usually means they are ok.

As for apple gourds, unless they were grown in a secluded area, they could have crossed with almost any other gourd.
Good luck and let us know what you've got.

Jan

Jan,

Thanks for the advice. I'll try a few seeds out to see if they still germinate.

I grew 2 vines out in 2004. They took over my cucumber trellis, grew up the side of the house, sent tendrils into the window screens, ran down the roof gutters for about 15 feet, and hung large, long, heavy gourds over the side of the eaves.

Some of the gourds were so heavy they pulled the vines off the house. Most of the gourds were about 14" to 20" long, dark green with light green, almost white, blotches. They were larger in diameter at the blossom end than the stem end, and the ones that hung down like trellised cukes had nice flat blossom ends so they sat upright on the table along with other autumn centerpiece stuff until Brenda tossed them out.

I didn't save the seeds from the grown out gourds. But I still have a few of the originals. They really didn't have any peculiar or distinguishing characteristics, so I'll probably grow some other more decorative or useful kinds next summer. Brenda says that any gourds I grow will have to be grown out in the brush or the woods rather than anywhere near her house again!

Bill

Oh well, sounds like an interesting crop. Too bad everyone doesn't see it that way!! Good luck with your future crops and keep stopping by the forum. Let us know how your gourds are doing.

Jan