Please identify this veggie

[crobi13]

I think it's some kind of squash but I'm not sure if it is or what kind.
These plants were volunteers from my chickens. I decided to let them grow & feed the harvest back to my girls. They loved them the first time, they should enjoy them twice as much the 2nd time.

[applestar]

Could it be Spaghetti Squash?

[susanaproenca]

we're growing summer squash and we had some funny-shaped ones, that didn't really look like a summer squash (but it tasted good though.)

one of ours kinda looked like that. Maybe a summer squash?

[Ozark Lady]

I would also guess spaghetti squash, but it could be a cross bred squash.
One year I had squash and gourds cross, they tasted pretty good, but then they got really hard, but they didn't cure so great.

[jal_ut]

The word volunteer is key. This is a hybrid squash. It doesn't really have a name, unless you would like to name it. You could try eating them small like a summer squash and see how they taste. The chickens will like them.

[garden5]

The word volunteer is key. This is a hybrid squash. It doesn't really have a name, unless you would like to name it. You could try eating them small like a summer squash and see how they taste. The chickens will like them.

I've noticed some say if you get a volunteer squash, it is probably a hybrid. Does squash have a stronger tendency to get cross-pollinated than other plants? I would think if you only had one type growing in a patch, you would be able to save seed from it without worrying. Now, that's not really the case for me as I have about five kinds growing right next to each other.

Anyway, it does resemble a spaghetti squash. Did you grow any of those last year? If not, Jal's probably right about it being some kind of a hybrid.

[crobi13]

It might be a spaghetti squash. I'm not sure
The way these plants came about is, last fall, I bought my chickens some veggies as treats. What I remember buying them is pumpkins, acorn squash and butternut squash. I don't recall buying spaghetti squash (that does not count for much though, lol).
The chickens have a pine bedding which I bag, allow to age then use as mulch for my garden. This spring, I noticed a few starter leaves coming up in my strawberry bed with seeds on them. I let them get big enough to transplant and moved them away from my strawberries.
The seeds looked like pumpkin seeds but this veggie sure does not look like a pumpkin.

[crobi13]

This is what it looks like today. It has gotten quite a bit bigger since my last pic 2 days ago.
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[tedln]

It has the shape, but not the color of an East Indian Gherkin. It's probably a hybrid mix of some squash though.

I have bumble bees pollinating my garden right now. The early honey bees never showed up. I probably have ten or fifteen big yellow and black bees working all the plants constantly. It sounds like a helicopter convention in my garden. I can guarantee everything in my garden has been cross polinated.

I have to wear a ball cap when I go to the garden because those big bees love to dive bomb the top of my head when I invade their territory. I've never been stung though.

Ted

[crobi13]

Interesting visual of dive-bombing bees, Ted

I think it looks like a hybrid of a squash & a pumpkin. I just did not know if that was possible. There are loads of bees buzzing around these vines. They totally love the flowers.

[jal_ut]

The pumpkin and many garden squashes including, Spaghetti, Crookneck, Zucchini, Sweet Dumpling, Patty Pan, Heart of Gold, Gem, Dilicata and Acorn are all the same species; Cucurbita pepo. These will all cross pollinate readily and usually do if grown anywhere near each other. The next generation of plants will be squash, but no telling what they will look like or taste like. I treat all volunteer squash as weeds. I would rather pay a few cents for some seed and know what I am getting.

Butternut is a different species; Cucurbita moschata, and it is said it will not cross with the others. I am making that test this season as I planted some seed from a wintered over Butternut Squash. I will report on that when I see the fruit. There was a good variety of squash grown near by last year.

I have heard that gourds will cross with the squash, but can't substantiate that. Gourds are of the genus Lagenaria. I am growing some bottle gourds this season and will save some seed and see if it crossed or not. I have grown the little decorative gourds before and saved seed. It never comes the same the following year. Maybe I had a packet of mixed variety gourds ? I can't remember. I haven't grown gourds for a long time.

[crobi13]

Thanks so much, Jim! That helps a lot.
I put all of the volunteers in the same place so I believe that a squash & pumpkin cross-polinated.
How exciting, I have my very own type of Cucurbita Pepo!