Cross-pollination

[lazybloke]

Picked this from the allotment last week and might try cooking some later. 13 x 7 inches.

Who can guess the cross, and predict what the contents will be?

 

[fossyant]

Cross between a courgette and a fat person ?

Courgette/pumpkin ?

 

[jowwy]

i was going to say courgette and Aubergine

 

[annedonnelly]

Courgette & melon?

 

[Reynard]

Courgette and spaghetti squash.

Use it to make ginger jam xxx

 

[Reynard]

i was going to say courgette and Aubergine

Erm, aubergine isn't a member of the cucurbit family. It's related to potatoes, tomatoes and deadly nightshade, so it won't cross-polinate.

 

[jowwy]

Erm, aubergine isn't a member of the cucurbit family. It's related to potatoes, tomatoes and deadly nightshade, so it won't cross-polinate.

My bad…..it just looks that shape too me

 

[lazybloke]

Cross between a courgette and a fat person ?

Courgette/pumpkin ?

Yep, collected the seeds from last years Big Max pumpkins back in winter; a lovely orange variety.
We only ever cook the seeds, but before they got to the oven we noticed they were sprouting... okay, why not try to grow some?

Never had any chimera plants before so didn't know what to expect - the plants looked normal and healthy, so we planted a couple of at the allotment. One survived. And then it flowered and started to produce... things.

The children are horrified, they want food, not a science experiment!

Not sure if it's best cooked small, or left to grow large, or indeed dug up and composted! Didn't try it tonight, maybe find out tomorrow....

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

Yep, collected the seeds from last years Big Max pumpkins back in winter; a lovely orange variety.
We only ever cook the seeds, but before they got to the oven we noticed they were sprouting... okay, why not try to grow some?

Never had any chimera plants before so didn't know what to expect - the plants looked normal and healthy, so we planted a couple of at the allotment. One survived. And then it flowered and started to produce... things.

The children are horrified, they want food, not a science experiment!

Not sure if it's best cooked small, or left to grow large, or indeed dug up and composted! Didn't try it tonight, maybe find out tomorrow....

Bit early for Halloween but a lantern might work

 

[Reynard]

Yep, collected the seeds from last years Big Max pumpkins back in winter; a lovely orange variety.
We only ever cook the seeds, but before they got to the oven we noticed they were sprouting... okay, why not try to grow some?

Never had any chimera plants before so didn't know what to expect - the plants looked normal and healthy, so we planted a couple of at the allotment. One survived. And then it flowered and started to produce... things.

The children are horrified, they want food, not a science experiment!

Not sure if it's best cooked small, or left to grow large, or indeed dug up and composted! Didn't try it tonight, maybe find out tomorrow....

There was one year I grew giant pumpkins, thinking to enter the Soham pumpkin fair. My biggest one was nearly 3 foot across - nowhere big enough to win a prize, but it was kind of fun. It involved a LOT of water and a rather large quantity of horse poo.

Kept the seeds.

Next year, I had these ribbed courgettes with a serious growth problem...

 

[lazybloke]

There was one year I grew giant pumpkins, thinking to enter the Soham pumpkin fair. My biggest one was nearly 3 foot across - nowhere big enough to win a prize, but it was kind of fun. It involved a LOT of water and a rather large quantity of horse poo.

Kept the seeds.

Next year, I had these ribbed courgettes with a serious growth problem...

Holy moly, you did well.
Back in 2014 I suffered back pain from lifting this Dills Atlantic Giant into the car. It's a baby compared to the competition winners.

Would NOT like to see a glut of courgette hybrids that size!

 

[KnittyNorah]

A courkin - or a pumpette?

 

[Reynard]

Holy moly, you did well.
Back in 2014 I suffered back pain from lifting this Dills Atlantic Giant into the car. It's a baby compared to the competition winners.

Would NOT like to see a glut of courgette hybrids that size!
View attachment 654686

Atlantic Giant was the variety I grew as well. Getting them to that size was fun, it's what to do with them after that's the problem. Moving them was definitely not an option, and there's only so much pumpkin soup one can pour down the hatch...

At the other end of the scale, I've had good success with Turkish Hats. They're much more manageable in terms of size, and decidedly prettier.

 

[lazybloke]

Update: The courgumpkin was good to eat. The flesh looked like marrow and cooked like marrow, but was a beautiful orange colour from its pumpkin DNA (photo).

Tune in next year to see if the next generation of seeds produce anything.

 

[Reynard]

They'll store well, too, if the skin is left to harden. Then a lovely soup, with chilli and roasted garlic...