Wot did I do wrong??

[Dobby]

Hi all,

Had a good day down at the plot yesterday, then came home for tea. mrs d was doing pork chops with rosted veg, and I told her to do 2 of the squashes we'd been given with the veg, but they came out yuck!

They were a green and yellow stripy one with bubbles on the outside and about the size of a grapefruit and a lemon yellow one smooth, lemon shaped and about as big as a large orange. They were very hard to cut into and mrs d roasted them the same way as she does butternut, so I dont think they were undercooked.

They tasted of a cross between earwax, washing up liquid and bile, were very biter and left a very bad in your mouth, on your lips and fingers.

Was it possible they werent ripe, did we undercook them (they were roasted for 40 mins at 200C) or are they not supposed to be edible.

any advice would be good, as we have saved the seeds, but mrs d wonts me to bin them now, she wasnt pleased with the taste, i never seen her run to clean her teeth before shes finished her tea before.

[Lesley Jay]

They sound like Acorn type squashes which are lovely. Slice off the top scope out the seeds and fill with something tasty then roast them whole using the top as a lid. They also make great mash.

I think the ones you had were immature, far too small and that probably accounts for their flavour.

[Mrs Dobby]

What size should they grow to LJ? One of the other plot holders gave them to us a week or so ago, as she already had loads, but the way I feel atm I'm not sure I ever want to try them again!

If they are tasty when fully grown I may give them another go, but it will definitely be with a little trepidation!

[Snadger]

Thats what gardening is all about learning experiences. Eventually you will finish up only growing what you and your family like to eat !

Once again I'm setting myself up to be shot down here........but here goes!

I have read quite a bit about people saving seed from F1 squash plants and enjoying the variety of plants that come from them. F1's are bread from different plants to give good results. The plants they are bread from are usually sub standard hence the breading.
Squash are closely related to gourds which as far as I know are not edible.

I personally would not save seed or grow plants from an F1 seeded squash in case they tasted awful and at worst were poisoness!

A heritage variety that came true to type would be the one for me, or at worst a shop bought F1 variety!

There it is then, my opinion and until proved wrong I will stand by it!

[Lesley Jay]

Just to make your point clear Snadger. You did mean that you wouldn't save seed from an F1 squash and you wouldn't grow squash using seed saved from an F1 squash. Yes?

[Snadger]

Just to make your point clear Snadger. You did mean that you wouldn't save seed from an F1 squash and you wouldn't grow squash using seed saved from an F1 squash. Yes?

Correct LJ , very eloquently put!

Come on then, you're going to shoot me down aren't you?

Just thought of another analogy the Solanum family, ie tomatoes, potatoes and those bonny litle 'Mock orange' bushes!

All related but fruit of potatoe highly poisoness as are Mock orange berries, and could all be concievably crossbread!

[Lesley Jay]

Snadger I am not going to shoot you down at all. Seeds from an F1 vegetable shouldn't be saved. You can't guarantee that they will grow true.

If you have an allotment technically it is possible that seed saved from a non F1 variety will not grow true. There is a strong chance of cross pollination from crops on other plots.

[valmarg]

Ruddy Ada Dobbie, I'm about to have my Sunday lunch, having been chucked out of the kitchen by OH.

"Earwax, washing up liquid and bile"!!!

I'm just grateful that they've never been on the menu chez nous!!

valmarg

[Lesley Jay]

Mrs D. in answer to your question about the size of the squash. I let mine grow two maybe three times the size of the ones you had. Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall did a recipe on one of the River Cottage programmes that is in his book which had a cheesy filling and these were roasted until they were lovely and 'giving'.

[Mrs Dobby]

Thanks for the info LJ, they were given to us by another plotholder when she dug her plants up at the end of the season, so its possible they hadnt fully matured at that point and being newbies we werent aware!

As to the HFW recipie, I've done similar things with large squash, very tasty indeed!

Snadger, I dont think they were F1 hybrids, as she'd been growing them from saved seeds for a while, so I think it more likely that we just got an immature fruit or 4! Thanks for the info on them tho, I'll make sure we dont save any seeds from any F1's

[ugly gourd]

Are you sure there not gourds I grew some that sound just like them and Ive harvested some seeds from some today and your discription of the taste sound familar of when I licked my finger even after washing my hands!!

[Alison]

They sound exactly like one I got given the other week - took ages to get into and there wasn't a whole lot of flesh by the time I'd chopped it up. Didn't want to roast it whole as it was ear marked for a chicken recipe I love. It tasted fine although I did think that it disintigrated more than some but suppose that thickend up the sauce a bit. Just a thought, if your plot neighbour has been saving the seed for years they could now be producing somewhat changed fruits? Don't know too much about growning squashes as have only just got into them, had a couple of butter nut squashes this year but they went in a bit on the late side so hopefully I'll do better next year.

[Mrs Dobby]

They could be gourds UG, we were told they were squashes, but I suppose its possible they are gourds!

If they are gourds, then what are they used for? (Apart from 'follow his Gourd, his Holy Gourd', sorry, obscure Monty Python moment here! )

I always thought gourds were inedible, so have no idea why they are grown by folks, but they must have some use, musnt they?

[ugly gourd]

I only grow them for decoration Ive always been lead to believe there inedable because there yuck not poisonious

[Mrs Dobby]

Phew!! Not poisonous, thats good, I hadnt even thought about that!

If that was a gourd, then it was deffo inedible due to taste, absolutely foul and disgusting, I have never tasted anything so bad in my life!!