I'm still unable to reproduce this bug. I'm glad the gourds work again in the new start. If it happens again, let me know with details to reproduce if you can.
That's interesting. I don't think that is the issue here because I think the items were not actually missing. It looks like they were just in the extra inventory slots that you have to scroll down to get to in the inventory.
I'll keep the serialization in mind if there are any issues with items or the inventory in the future.