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Haha yes I could still be wrong and it could be a mutant of one of those adorable round zucchini squashes. That's always the risk with plant ID from photos. You should see the bitterness between real experts on nonpublic horticulture sites on very, very tiny differences that may, or may not, be the same species all based on 3 not to clear photos.
I can't tell what kind of soil you have, what it has been treated with in the recent past and what you may have put down in the last year or two. Unless is has been dosed in pesticides for termites, or animal pests in that time it is more than likely safe to eat. It can't hurt to try a little bit. If it has a pretty good taste save the seeds and prepare a bed with organic soils, grow it how you feel safe next year and enjoy a bumper crop. Oh... and keep taking pictures since this has been a more fun thread than others here have been recently! The mystery vine that took over Jkgourmet's yard!!
LOL Tina.... :-)
I totally agree! You should definitely try it! Try it young and stir fried and try it when it gets older. I had a cross between a delicata and a zuchini that came up out of nowhere. We decided to try it and it was wonderful. The older ones got used in breads and muffins and the squash looked like zuchini, but was a bit sweeter. You could get a wonderful surprise.
It looks like mexican gray squash (calabacita) to me.
but aren't they relatively soft flesh, like zucchini? These things are hard like gourds or unripe melons. Inside flesh is very light orange with large seeds that remind me of a pumpkin.
plants of the same "family" will cross pollinate and you can come up with some mighty creative hybrids. It almost looks like the squash plant was crossed with a cucumber. I don't know if that is possible, but that is what it looks like.
No. They still look and feel very under ripe. Plus, neither of us like squash (zuchinni or butternut or acorn, etc.) very much. So I wouldn't be able to identify what it is from the taste anyway.
No. They still look and feel very under ripe. Plus, neither of us like squash (zuchinni or butternut or acorn, etc.) very much. So I wouldn't be able to identify what it is from the taste anyway.
I saved seeds from my zukes once and when the offspring fruited, they looked like yours. I had also grown pumpkins, pattypans, yellow crook necks and yellow zukes the same year that I had saved the seeds from. I tried some while still green and it tasted like cantelope, which I do not like. I let some stay on the vines and they turned orange just like pumpkins and wintered over just like a winter squash. I did not like thier taste, but I had chickens and turkey and they did not mind it. I would just half the squash and let them peck at it.
Since I thought this critter was some kind of cross breed, I did a little research and learned this:
Quote:
Since they have a similar flowering habit, bloom about the same time, and are members of the same plant family, it is logical that gardeners might assume that squash, melons, and cucumbers will cross-pollinate. Fortunately, however, this is not true. The female flowers of each crop can be fertilized only by pollen from male flowers of the same species. Cross pollination, however, can occur between varieties within a species. Cross pollination can be seen in the squashes and pumpkins. Summer squash, pumpkins, gourds, and some types of winter squash belong to the same plant species Cucurbita pepo. All species members may cross with one another. Thus, an acorn squash will cross pollinate with a zucchini or a miniature gourd. However, muskmelon (Cucumis melo) and cucumbers (Cucumis sativus) belong to different species and will not cross with each other or members of the Cucurbita genus. An example of incompatibility can also be seen in the animal kingdom. Cardinals cannot mate with blue jays. (The part of the lesson about the "birds").
When crosses occur between members of the same species, we do not see the effect of the cross the first year. However, if the seeds are saved and planted, the plants will produce fruit that will be different from either of the parents. Once in a while, gardeners will allow a chance seedling to grow in their garden. The fruit that sets on may appear quite unusual. Occasionally one can guess what the parents were by looking at the fruit and/or remembering what was planted in that area of the garden the previous year. For example, a pumpkin-shaped fruit with greenish bumps on it may suggest a parentage of pumpkin and green-warted gourd.
You know , this is exactly how new varieties and sometimes new species are discovered. Patent it quickly and you will be rich and share it with all of us! and since I'm your closest neighbor I should get first dibs at cooking it. (with bacon of course)
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You may have a breed of veg.
