Strange things are afoot in the compost bin
This hybrid curcubit has this gardener stumped. We welcome suggestions for how to have fun with this strange looking veggie.
Back by popular demand is another chronicle of the mysterious curcubit growing in an abandoned compost pile. After the first flush of giant, bumpy offerings, several more flowers have begun to produce the strange vegetable.
I sent a photo and a plea for help to Joe Connell, UC Davis farm adviser in Oroville.
Last year I had a similarly weird squash plant and a reader advised to take care because some cross pollination can be poisonous.
Joe responded that the veggie could very possibly be a cross of a pumpkin and squash.
“The genetics of the curcubit family are very complicated,” Joe explained. “There are four major families of squash, with some cultivators of one family able to cross with some cultivars of another. It is possible to get some very curious specimens (as you have discovered here).
“To my knowledge there are no poisonous squash, but you should be aware that some squash is not very palatable; they may contain compounds that are pretty nasty-tasting.
“Gourds can be poisonous and if the pumpkin crossed with a gourd the resulting fruit could be poisonous too, but if so, they would taste so nasty as indicated above that you’d probably not eat them anyway.”
I think the plan is to let them grow and see how big they will get. The folks at the Saturday Farmers Market hold a tomato weigh-in every year. Maybe they will expand their judging criteria and create a contest for the freakiest unidentifiable thing grown in a garden.