How do you clean a dried gourd?

Would the seeds inside a dried gourd be viable?

• I have a crop of gourds I grew last year that have finally dried out enough for me to start using them as craft projects (the little ones dried this spring and the big ones just recently.) When I remove the seeds, will they still be okay to plant next spring? They are bushel gourds and I want to see if I can grow them even bigger in in my new garden under better conditions.

• Answer:

  Yes, they should be fine ... unless something like mold has gotten to them. Drying out is what happens in nature. If you have a lot of them you could test them in advance by not waiting till spring but planting a few right now, in a good place, and seeing if they sprout. (They should if they're good.)