Tenacious gourd

A few years ago I built a hugelkulture. I got done I think late August. I couldn't wait to grow something, but knew it was late for most things. I decided to grow those tiny pumpkins. I figured I had enough time for them. I couldn't find the seeds anywhere locally. I did find a pack with the tiny pumpkins, and gourd mix.  No pumpkins grew, but a few gourds grew.  I have had volunteered gourds ever since.  I have unintentionally landrace gourds. Besides throwing one to the chickens now and then I ignored them.  This year my hugelkulture had a gopher invasion. It never really performed the way it was supposed to, so I made the hard decision to remove all the above ground layer of the hugel.
I also had gophers in my raised veggie beds. I rebuilt them hugel beet style, with hardwire cloth at ground level. To save money I used some of the amazing soil I removed from the hugelkulture.
In one of the beds I planted loofah. It was growing so well. I was very excited. I've never had much luck with it. You guessed it. It's not loofah, but that darn gourd. There must have been a seed in the soil I used.  It just refuses to be stopped.  It wouldn't be bad if I knew what to do with it.  Let me know if it's good for anything other than feeding to the chickens.

If not bitter, it might make good human food.

I know of alady in Mallorca who"s grown really fond of them. She uses them young all summer. And she's looking into jarring them.
It's one of those 'go with what wants to grow' moments.
If you got a bitter variety that you can't get rid of that's bad luck. But there exist nice edible ones. Good for chickens and you! Great find.

Jen, do you by chance have any photos of the gourds themselves?

I really have no advice. I would like to find my own tenacious gourd one day.

Pick gourds when they are young and use as summer squash or in the soup. You can even eat birdhouse gourds that way. Are the mature gourds hard-shelled? Or fibrous for washing dishes? As Halloween ornaments?

If nothing else, Tenacious Gourd would be an outstanding band name.

Gourds are often the basis for crafts, especially the hard-shelled varieties. Depending on the size and shape, they can become ladles, birdhouses, pincushion bases, musical instruments…anything that has a curve, once you give them some shape and dry them. Show us a picture of the gourds themselves and I’m sure this creative group will have lots of suggestions!

Or y’know, just pile a bunch on stage while you and your new band shred a mean guitar. It could be a whole vibe.

I have a breeding project involving wild, bitter Cucurbita squash that are referred to as gourds. Possibly the same species as these.

If your squash is bitter, you would need several years to breed that out, which may not be worth the time. (Although it might be fun!) Please be careful to be familiar with Cucurbita bitterness before making any direct tests of it.

There are varieties of Curcubita pepo 'gourd squash' that are not bitter, and look just the same as the bitter versions. You might have a non-bitter gourd, which would open up culinary possibilities.

A big question is what kind of "gourd" these are. In some ways, anything in the whole squash and pumpkin family can be called a gourd. In North America we have some particular names like squash, pumpkin, and zucchini, and we call everything else in the family a gourd.

I've lived in India, where there are different edible gourds than in North America: like bitter gourd (Momordica spp.), bottle gourd (Lagninaria spp.), and a few others.

If your gourds were bottle gourds, the ones that get long or hourglass shape, and eventually harden the shells to make a useful vessel, then they are usually a good vegetable when small and pale green and the seeds aren't too developed.

I doubt your gourds are knobbly bitter gourds -- those are edible, and once you get used to them, they're kind of addictive.

If your gourds were the ornamental Cucurbita pepo called gourds in the US and used as autumn decorations (same species as zucchini and summer squash and patty pans and some orange pumpkins), then there is more chance that they are bitter and toxic, and also that they are cross pollinating your good edible zucchinis and other squash.

I'm sorry I don't have a clue what the original gourd was. It was in a mix of a few gourds and Jack-be-little pumpkin. I want to say I planted them in 2019. I looked through my garden book, but didn't record what I planted. Decorative gourd and pumpkin mix. The pumpkin didn't grow. If I remember correctly there were a couple different gourds. They have been growing themselves ever since.

I took some up close pictures. I put the horseshoe with it because it was there, and gives you a basic idea of size. It's kind of greenish, but I'm not sure it's done growing. It's  pretty hard, but cuts easy with a knife. I cut a small piece, and touched it to my tongue, no bitterness, so I gave it a try. There's not a lot of flavor. Kind of like a mild less watery cucumber flavor. Not anything to write home about, but not bitter or unappealing.  After my little taste test, I gave it to the chickens who thought it was wonderful.

Based on the photos and the information you provided, I do believe that the species is Curcubita pepo. There are more experienced squash growers here, I hope there will be other IDs.

Assuming it is a C. pepo squash: because it's not bitter, it might be worth experimenting with it as a summer squash. Also you might try baking it filled with stew or another stuffing.

You could experiment with crossing it with other squash (including pumpkins) from the same species.

If it's very bitter and it's able to cross pollinate with your other edible cucurbits, it may not worth keeping the plant. Bitter zucchini poisoning from crossing with bitter ornamental gourd happens and sometimes even killed people. My edible birdhouse gourd crossed with apple gourd and the hybrid is inedible. I also have two types of luffa, one makes better dish scrubs but a bit bitter, the ridged one is very tender and sweet but hard to peel for sponge. I plant only one kind in alternate years so that they won't cross.