Still a Mystery Squash

Last month, I blogged about a mystery squash that was growing in the garden.  At first I thought it was a watermelon, because the rind was pretty tough like a watermelon.  But in further investigation it didn't look like an ordinary watermelon.  It was from a volunteer plant and it looked like nothing I've ever grown before.  I assumed it came from my dad's compost, but he also said it wasn't anything he's grown or eaten. So where did the seeds come from?  He said that it might be from a bird or squirrel. I decided to harvest the squash because it was a good size and didn't know if it would get any bigger. 

I brought the squash to my parent's house because I know they would know how to cook it. I very rarely eat squash.

Inside the squash, it looks like a cucumber or zucchini, however, the skin is quite tough. The seeds are large like pumpkin seeds.  The flesh though is very firm, similar to a winter melon.  The flavor is very bland, almost flavorless.  Anyone have any idea what type of squash this is?

Did I Grow a Watermelon?

Back in June, I wrote about how we had quite a few volunteer plants growing all around our edible garden. I didn't have the heart to kill any of them.  That's how I have 75 tomato plants in the garden.   I let the volunteers grow or if it was in a weird spot, I replanted the plants in the parts of the garden which I thought they belonged.  If it looked like a squash or cuke plant, I planted it in their respective beds.   Then at work the other day, I got a text message from my husband and he said, "We have a giant cucumber growing in the cuke bed" and sent me this photo.  I giggled and immediately texted him back.  "Well..." I said, "you put a 2x4 underneath it?  Um, I think it might be a watermelon."  I'm not really sure what it is.  I think the seed came from the compost we used from my dad's garden.  I'm guessing it's some kind of melon or squash?  What do you think it is.  It's about 8 inches long right now.

Volunteers

I've noticed around the garden that we have quite a bit of "volunteer" plants sprinkled amongst the beds. Since last year was our first gardening experience, I didn't know what to expect with volunteer plants. So far I've seen the following pop up. I think this may be a cucumber plant. There are 2 volunteers growing in the garden. I'll have to move them to another location soon.

We aren't growing potatoes again this year, however, I have 3 volunteer plants growing.  We put up new raised beds, and this one is growing up next to one.

We also have a ton of volunteer tomato plants.  Being that I hate to destroy any plants, especially the edible ones, I will let these grow until they are big enough to be potted up and given away.  I am not sure what type of tomatoes these will grow to be since we grew a variety last year.  I'm guessing it could be the Romas.

Here's another volunteer growing next to the snap pea bed.

I potted up a few already.  These were given to the hub's work friend.  So far, I have potted up 15 volunteers.  I have a bunch of other friends in line for receiving the volunteers.  I'm glad they will go to good homes.