this was in a pack that said cantelopes. doesnt quite look like it. i think its a squash, now when do i pick it, and what do i do with it?
what kind of squash and how do i cook it
Looks like an immature butternut to me.
also what does it taste like?
Butternut is most often used as a winter squash. Left on the vine to mature, picked in late fall cured for a couple of weeks and then cooked thru the winter. I think it is best in most baked dishes, from baked and slathered with butter, to scalloped squash, to squash pies. Flavor is somewhat similar to sweet potato, but slightly different with smoother texture. Some folks use the immature butternuts as summer squash.
http://southernfood.about.com/od/wintersquashrecipes/r/bl30318x.htm
http://www.seasonalrecipes.com/season/butternut.php
http://www.razzledazzlerecipes.com/flavorsoffall/squash-recipes.htm
http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/cat/752/0.shtml
F'dill, you are a storehouse of knowledge - you never cease to amaze me!!!
What a terrible waste to eat an immature butternut!
Actually they are not bad and quite a few folks do use them as summer squash. Here is a variety that is mostly used as a summer squash. It is also a good winter squash. http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/56773/index.html
We've been eating gourds instead of zucchini. Taste better (acquired taste?), better texture, keeps it 'al dente' when cooked and so far the bugs (cuke beetle, squash bug & vine borer) don't seem to bother them or can't keep up. http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/109675/index.html. Although in the same family 'Cucurbitaceae', it's a different genus 'Lagenaria' than most of the other squash we grow genus 'moschata'. They tend to ramble but we just keep cutting them back.
Gourds are very popular edibles in asia, but just starting to gain a foothold in the US. There are several types besides C. lagenaria Snake gourds, bottle gourds ). There is Luffa cylindrica ( sold in the south as vine okra) but mostly called the sponge gourd. Luffa acutangula the ridge gourd also called Chinese Okra. Momordica charantia the bitter gourd and Benincasa hispida, the wax gourd (popular in China, but has not made an impact in the USA yet)
Farmerdill,
Have you always been an Uber Gardener? You certainly are for good reason, I just never noticed before...
Melissa