Can you help me find out what I recycled?

[Accidental Gardener]

Well I'm new here, but here goes!

It seems that we have a plant growing in our burn pile.
It just so happens that I also throw kitchen waste out next to it, ie. fruit, veggie stuff.
I have different guesses, but not to bias the replies I won't say now.
Since we noticed it, we have weeded around and watered it to try to keep it growing. My daughter loves the idea of it getting ripe and us eating it, so any help would be great!

Remember there is no cash reward for the id of this plant, but many,many thanks!

Thanks Again for your time!

[img]https://img56.imageshack.us/img56/6703/1003817.jpg[/img]
[img]https://img214.imageshack.us/img214/1962/1003816.jpg[/img]
[img]https://img56.imageshack.us/img56/9665/1003814.jpg[/img]
[img]https://img408.imageshack.us/img408/6135/1003820.jpg[/img]

Who knows if this takes off we might try more next year!

[stella1751]

I'm guessing spaghetti squash, but for the right amount of money, I'll guess whatever you think it is

[applestar]

It's hard to tell without a closeup of the fruit. It does look a lot like my honeydew melon. Mine started out egg shaped/elongated like that -- the baby/young fruits have downy "peach fuzz" -- can't tell from your photo if yours do or not.

[Accidental Gardener]

It's hard to tell without a closeup of the fruit. It does look a lot like my honeydew melon. Mine started out egg shaped/elongated like that -- the baby/young fruits have downy "peach fuzz" -- can't tell from your photo if yours do or not.

But I got a pretty close up of the bee spreading the love.

I'll try to get more close ups to post!

Thanks Again!

[rainbowgardener]

Definitely something in the cucurbitae family, melons and squashes. I lean toward melon. The melons tend to have rounder leaves, the squashes more pointed.

I get volunteer squashes popping up where ever I use my compost. What you have with throwing out kitchen waste etc, is a compost pile.


Squash seeds must be incredibly tough and vital. My kitchen scraps all get simmered for an hour or so for soup stock, then go in the compost bucket. Then they all get composted down to soil that you can't look at and see any seeds or any other individual components... And yet squash (and often tomatoes) sprout from it, even though weeds don't. Amazing!

[Accidental Gardener]

Here are some close ups.

[img]https://img194.imageshack.us/img194/7527/1003871.jpg[/img]
[img]https://img340.imageshack.us/img340/1508/1003869.jpg[/img]
[img]https://img223.imageshack.us/img223/7417/1003868a.jpg[/img]
[img]https://img86.imageshack.us/img86/6393/1003870s.jpg[/img]

Fuzzy! That was a hint I wasn't going to give out right away, so yes it is fuzzy.

Another question. Will growing it in the burn pile make it taste bad?

Thanks to everyone, even stella1751, who will quess anything for the right price!

[cynthia_h]

Did y'all eat any Crenshaw melons and throw the seeds out?

Another guess for the pile!

Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9 (long ago, Atlanta)

[Accidental Gardener]

Did y'all eat any Crenshaw melons and throw the seeds out?

Another guess for the pile!

Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9 (long ago, Atlanta)

Whats a Crenshaw look like?

[!potatoes!]

a lot like those pictures, actually.

[applestar]

FWIW -- Honeydew is completely smooth and doesn't have the slight longitudinal ridges I see on your photo.

[Accidental Gardener]

a lot like those pictures, actually.

I've googled Crenshaw melon images and cannot find anything that looks like what we've eaten.

I've also googled other melon and squash to try to find the same shape leaf, no luck, is it possible for leaves to differ in shape even though its the same melon/squash type?

[cynthia_h]

Exactly like yours, except tan/golden colored when ripe. (too bad the photo doesn't give a notion of the taste...yummm )

I don't have a digital camera, but an Internet search on "Crenshaw melon" produced great photo results!

Cynthia

[Accidental Gardener]

I've yet to nail it down(what exactly it is), but another ? It's growing across the ground rapidly, so I was wondering if I should cut some of the vines to increase better yeild in the melons(?) that are starting?
Thanks again for the help!

[applestar]

I suspect you could follow pharmerphil's instructions for pinching off the pumpkin vines in [url=https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=18619]this thread[/url]

[Accidental Gardener]

I suspect you could follow pharmerphil's instructions for pinching off the pumpkin vines in [url=https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=18619]this thread[/url]

I gave them a snip this evening. I'll see what happens, after all we did not plan on growing these, they just started on thier own.

Thanks for the help!