I posted this on the edible plant forum but de died to try my luck here as I have also picked the remaining dark green gourds. Does anyone know what variety of gourds these are and are they edible? (This is an extreme case of seed contamination!)
(http://s22.postimg.org/ym7lwu2g1/image.jpg)
A lovely collection :icon_cheers:
Sorry I can't help with giving an id. It does look like the furthest right of the dark green ones has got a neck, perhaps a bottle type gourd?
Are you sure they are gourds rather than squash?
Quote from: Jayb on August 30, 2013, 21:39:31
A lovely collection :icon_cheers:
Sorry I can't help with giving an id. It does look like the furthest right of the dark green ones has got a neck, perhaps a bottle type gourd?
Are you sure they are gourds rather than squash?
I don't know to be honest they could well be. All those dark green ones are off one plant! Is there any way of telling if its a squash? I may try eat it
Thanks for the reply
Quote from: Tashsteve on August 30, 2013, 22:04:59
Quote from: Jayb on August 30, 2013, 21:39:31
A lovely collection :icon_cheers:
Sorry I can't help with giving an id. It does look like the furthest right of the dark green ones has got a neck, perhaps a bottle type gourd?
Are you sure they are gourds rather than squash?
I don't know to be honest they could well be. All those dark green ones are off one plant! Is there any way of telling if its a squash? I may try eat it
Thanks for the reply
Looks more like gourds/ornamental squash. Did they flower yellow or white? If it is ornamental squash, they may be perfectly edible like normal squash, but they can also be very bitter. I seem to remember that RobertB had a cross with an ornamental. bitter squash, which looked just like an edible squash, but was unusable because of the bitterness.
The bitterness isn't dangerous to health, just very unpleasant. Try with caution, if you do. Early squash was all bitter and people only ate the seeds until they could develop less bitter varieties a few thousand years ago.
Thanks for the information galina. I have tried a bit raw and it tastes the same as the courgettes from the garden. I am just very worried about eating them as on the packet for the mixed gourds it said do not consume. As long as they are not poisonous i may try eat it! Oh and the plant looked identical to my pumpkin plant and the flowers were yellow/orangy the same as the pumpkin plant too
(http://s22.postimg.org/gugosdsap/image.jpg)
Quote from: Tashsteve on August 31, 2013, 09:41:03
Thanks for the information galina. I have tried a bit raw and it tastes the same as the courgettes from the garden. I am just very worried about eating them as on the packet for the mixed gourds it said do not consume. As long as they are not poisonous i may try eat it! Oh and the plant looked identical to my pumpkin plant and the flowers were yellow/orangy the same as the pumpkin plant too
No doubt the packet advises not to consume them, because they may not all be bitter-free types. And caught unawares, there might be a nasty surprise. Otherwise they are just courgettes or squashes. However, there are better tasting courgettes about, because these gourds weren't bred for flavour. But apart from the bitterness, there are no concerns.
The cream ones look identical to my spaghetti squash .could be that
Looks very much like "the dreaded sharks fin squash" to me.