Need help identifying these

torden

Member
Mixed Farmer
Hello. Can you help me identify these? What variety is this? It is edible?

They just popped up this summer in our garden, and we never had this kind planted before. They were 4, I broke one to see how's inside. The inside is light yellow, not very thick, and the seeds are white, beautiful and pretty "fat". Dimensions: 16 cm (6,2 inches) long, "meat" thickness - 2,5 to 3cm (1 inch or so...)
Thank you
20211107_163311.jpg
20211107_163323.jpg
20211107_163333.jpg
 

Wisconsonian

Member
Trade
Pumpkins, squash, gourds are all very promiscuous, they crossbreed widely and are among the most difficult seeds to produce true to type. Any volunteer from any of them will be quite different from the parent varieties. Those look like typical crossbred volunteer squash. Cook it and tell us if it's edible, it won't be poisonous.
 

primmiemoo

Member
Location
Devon
They may indeed be poisonous even from edible hybrids , however I do not believe anyone has died yet. Just disappointing to cook a meal to find it inedible

Wasn't there a problem with accidentally wrongly crossed courgette seeds last year? Pollination was from a squash, and the resulting vegetables were poisonous to some degree?
 

Bogweevil

Member
Discard immediately if bitter. They can be harmful and very very seldom fatal. If no bitterness then fine to eat.

Seeds from bought pumpkins often survive home composting and germinate in the garden.

Great pains are taken by the seed industry to avoid pollination of edible cucurbits by potentially harmful ones. Last year some courgette seed pollinated by inedible cucurbits was inadvertantly sold to amateur growers. It was a 'value' line, cheap, but of poor quality and of little use to commercial growers.
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

  • 0 %

    Votes: 101 41.4%
  • Up to 25%

    Votes: 89 36.5%
  • 25-50%

    Votes: 36 14.8%
  • 50-75%

    Votes: 5 2.0%
  • 75-100%

    Votes: 3 1.2%
  • 100% I’ve had enough of farming!

    Votes: 10 4.1%

May Event: The most profitable farm diversification strategy 2024 - Mobile Data Centres

  • 449
  • 0
With just a internet connection and a plug socket you too can join over 70 farms currently earning up to £1.27 ppkw ~ 201% ROI

Register Here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-mo...2024-mobile-data-centres-tickets-871045770347

Tuesday, May 21 · 10am - 2pm GMT+1

Location: Village Hotel Bury, Rochdale Road, Bury, BL9 7BQ

The Farming Forum has teamed up with the award winning hardware manufacturer Easy Crypto Hunter and Easy Compute to bring you an educational talk about how AI and blockchain technology is helping farmers to diversify their land.

Over the past 7 years, Easy Crypto Hunter have been working with farmers, agricultural businesses, and renewable energy farms all across the UK to help turn leftover space into...
Top