Surprises in the vegetable garden this year

[Phisherman]

My 20x20 garden is strange this year. I am having a bumper crop of volunteer butternut squash!

Doing well: peppers, stawberries, potatoes, parsley Not doing well: tomatoes, radishes OK: cucumbers

I planted zuchinni and have none. :(

[Zootal]

grew out of the compost pile back under the tree. the main vine you see growing towards the camera grows about six inches a day. The side vines, which you can't see very well in this pic, grow faster. This was a week ago - today it's taken over half of the bed you see to the right. I have no idea how big this monster is going to get. I can't wait to see what kind of fruit it grows - there is no telling what it is crossed with, as I grew about ten types of squash last year, including 2 different pumpkins and an Atlantic monster squash of some sort.

[Billy]

Looks like pumpkin to me.

[Zootal]

It's just now starting to set fruit, and they do indeed look like pumpkin, maybe with a touch of zuchinni. I wasn't sure what the fruit would look like, as I tossed a lot of scrap into the compost pile last year. A few years ago I planted seeds from an acorn squash, and while they grew nice long vines, the fruit was varied and weird. Tasty, but strangly shaped. This monster is half again as big as it was when I took the pics. I am amazed at how fast it grows! The side runners grow 10-12 inches a day! The main runner keeps heading deeper and deeper into the garden, with no sign of slowing down. It's huge!

[Bill who putters]

Reminds me of Tahitian Squash. Great keeper and sort of like a very big carrot. Don't have enough sun these days here but worth a look.

I've stored them under my bed for about six months. Tough and tasty.

Bill