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I have an unusual squash plant growing - it was more a bush type, but has grown these huge pumpkin like squash. When they are young they don't "look like" summer squash so I am assuming they are a winter type. The skins have become very hard too.
I have a pic but my camera is dying so the pic is very vague I am afraid. They are about the size of a football, they are a creamy white with green stripes.
I had not thought that I had planted a pumpkin but they grew out of the patch so it is either an old seed or a dropped seed!!!
Any ideas?

Could be some sort of 'hulless' seed type pumpkin..?...have you cut any open yet to see inside?

Looks like a small watermelon they sell around here.

Tondo di something that isn't Piacenza....

Indeed looks more like a melon!

This is really most curious. I am sure it's not a melon, it is very hard!
I had started to wonder if it wasn't a tender squash that I had left too long, but when new ones grew, they just did not look like courgette type squash - they looked really like baby pumpkins! (I am sure some of you know what I mean! A tender squash starts to look "ready" after a few days, but these fruits looked too shiny and sort of under ripe. Yet it is not a vine like a pumpkin ???
Could it be a hybrid of something? A butternut gone wrong? The skin has become very hard and the stems are pretty thick.

Chris, your Tondo idea does look similar but those seem to be courgettes... maybe it's an offshoot of those?
I am fearing that it will actually taste foul once I harvest it, which would be a shame as the fruit looks very promising... There are only 3 fruit on it - if it were a courgette type, surely it would have long been overrun with baby fruit ???

Your spuash/pumpkin looks quite like Pepita.. http://www.organiccatalogue.com/Seeds-Vegetables-Vegetables-P-R-Pumpkins-and-Gourds/c21_22_23_37/index.html

They look like a melons to me, just like the ones we were buying in France last month.  Could you have composted some melon seeds and skins and then put the compost on your garden?

Foliage look bit too sturdy to me to be melon..though fruit does look melon like.

Quote from: goodlife on October 03, 2012, 09:57:19
Your spuash/pumpkin looks quite like Pepita.. http://www.organiccatalogue.com/Seeds-Vegetables-Vegetables-P-R-Pumpkins-and-Gourds/c21_22_23_37/index.html

goodlife you hit the nail on the head!!! Actually it may have been one of YOUR seeds that you gave me in a swap - do you think you have had some of those?  I am glad to see it is a real pumpkin, as there are 3 good sized fruit and they look good. I will harvest the ripest one soon and have a peek inside.
(PS it was you that gave me the pink banana too, they are wonderful! I will definitely do those again! Thx!)

QuoteActually it may have been one of YOUR seeds that you gave me in a swap - do you think you have had some of those?

Well..anything is possible..but I can't remember having any that sort of seed myself. I've got some orange-green and yellow-green stripy squashes but not white-green that I'm aware of. Now that new seed catalogues keeps dropping through letterbox every other day..I've noticed couple of others squashes/pumpkins that look bit similar. Other possibility is that, its not first time there has been wrong variety of seeds mixed in packet..certainly I've had that happening last couple of years few times and from few different sources.
Lets hope they are yummy to eat what ever they are.

Ok, I finally harvested my weird squash and what a disappointment. One was obviously unripe so I opened that to see. Inside it looks like a kind of hard marrow... the flesh is a creamy white and a little sweet but definitely not a pumpkin. As it self sowed, I am thinking some kind of hybrid from a previous cultivation?   I am at a loss what to do with it. There are three big fruit, maybe the others will be better, Do you think i can at least use it in soup or grated in cakes?? how else do you use marrows (which I don't grow)?

Quote from: antipodes on October 15, 2012, 10:27:26
Ok, I finally harvested my weird squash and what a disappointment. One was obviously unripe so I opened that to see. Inside it looks like a kind of hard marrow... the flesh is a creamy white and a little sweet but definitely not a pumpkin. As it self sowed, I am thinking some kind of hybrid from a previous cultivation?   I am at a loss what to do with it. There are three big fruit, maybe the others will be better, Do you think i can at least use it in soup or grated in cakes?? how else do you use marrows (which I don't grow)?

Both of the above suggestions are good for dealing with odd squash or with courgettes that ended up as monster marrows.  I also cube squash and put into a spag bol sauce - the strong flavours will infuse the boring marrow pieces.  If you don't want pieces, you could use the coarse grater.  You can also grate finely, mix with mince, bind with an egg, spice well and fry as meatballs, or just add to a meatloaf - up to 50/50 meat and marrow.  A bowl of grated marrow, left to stand and drain for a bit in case they are a watery, then mixed with grated leftover cheese ends and a couple of beaten eggs, baked in a pyrex dish is nice too.  Add finely chopped nuts or breadcrumbs for more 'bite'.  Sorry no exact recipes, I tend to cook these 'by eye' and they are very forgiving.

I use courgettes that get too big and marrow-like for soups, with onion and garlic and herbs and stock cube etc to provide the flavour then whizzing them with the stick type liquidiser. Smaller courgettes/marrows can be grated into rissottos as well. One has to be ingenious with courgette gluts. One favourite recipe of mine for courgettes is frying them in small chunks till soft then finishing them in the pan with brown sugar, wine vinegar and cinnamon. I think the idea comes from Sicily. It wouldn't work with giant ones though.

Oh those are good suggestions! I did taste a little bit raw, it was sweetish but awfully bland. The idea of "rostis" sounds good (grate then pan fry). Don't worry Galina, I always do my recipes with "a pinch of this and that" so I will sort something out. Meatloaf! Excellent suggestion.