Every year in my garden I plant squash (which includes pumpkins). I love them, tasty, nutritious and colorful. By definition, squash/pumpkins are actually a fruit - botanically speaking. I think they are more of a vegetable, but whatever they are, they are just such happy looking plants.However, last year I planted several varieties (as I do every year) i.e. pumpkins, acorn squash, Hubbard's and banana squash. This year I only planted pumpkins and acorn squash. However, some stray seeds from last year grew in my garden from the compost pile - cross-pollinated seeds! I didn't realize it until harvest this year that I was not growing pumpkins in that one hill on the left. Oh, I do still have some pumpkins and I do still have some acorn squash (one pictured above) - BUT - then I had . . . . these . . . Pumpcorns?
Many cross pollinated plants are not tasty! However, I had to try one (I actually had six of the oddities) and they all looked like these three big ovals (as pictured above). The small one is an actual acorn squash from my garden from this year.
I cut one of them open, and I noted that it had a heart shape inside, much like an acorn squash - but big, big seeds and bright orange, rather stringy pulp was more like a pumpkin. I baked it with butter and a bit of brown sugar. Mmmm, it tasted, Mmmmm, very much like . . . just like the acorn squash. It was very, very good - beat the odds of the bad mix. The texture, however, almost resembled . . . hmmmm, a spaghetti squash? I didn't plant any of those . . . did one of my neighbors? Bad bees! I mean, good bees, bad pollinating. Well, good pollinating - I did say they were tasty, didn't I. They were tasty! I think they are Pumpcorns! Anyone want seeds for next year?
