Can anyone please tell me about these squashes

Hi there
I have grown these squashes this season. The only thing I planted was Butternut Squash from a packet of seeds. Two of them look like butternut squash, albeit not the usual straw yellow I’m used to, but the other one from a separate plant looks quite obviously different, being dark green. I’m wondering, are these all going to be ok to eat? Is the green one just an unripe butternut squash or is it just a slightly different strain?
Thank you in advance for any advice you can spare for me
Best wishes
Bob

 

We had a similar issue with the butternut ones not being the usual shape and so we were confused. However we did harvest them and the pumpkins and have stored them in the porch. This was some weeks ago and the green one has slowly turned yellow and the none looking squash ones became more yellow. We have used 2 now for lovely soups and baked slices. I have also cooked some and mashed it down with mustard and frozen it for use in the Christmas dinner with what ever I do decide to make.

 

@On the Levels
Thank you so much for taking the time to respond with helpful information. I love the idea of it mashed with mustard. What a great idea! I left them on the plants for as long as I dared in the hope of them ripening, and because I read not to harvest them until the plant was spent. Eventually, the pear shaped one fell off by itself so I decided to harvest them because of the hard frost we have had
I have been gardening for many years but still have a lot to learn
Best wishes
Bob

 

They all look very tasty Bob - I guess we just never get to see the odd shaped ones in the shops.

 

@Escarpment Thank you escarpment you are right

 

This year I grew "inca" butternut. We only got 1, but it was super tasty and had a very small seed cavity.
It was bright orange on the inside, and dark green on the outside!
So those varieties do exist.

 

@Adam I
Last year I got 2 Butternut Squashes which was great - it’s not a money maker but a sense of achievement. Great that you got one! I roasted mine with smoked paprika and olive oil and then made soup and pasta sauce out of them. Such a versatile veg
Thank you for reassuring me about the mysterious green one

 

I grew Tromboncino squashes this year - they're like a cross between a courgette and a butternut. Less watery than a courgette but you can use them in the same way. They were very productive.

 

@Escarpment I’ve not heard of those but they sound like a good plan. I did have some courgettes this season. They were great. It was a tough season here in the south east of England because of the long periods of hot, dry weather. I hope you enjoyed your Tronboncino squashes. Were they trombone shaped?

 

@BobMcFish we harvested the fruits before the plants were "spent". We decided that if we left them any longer then we could end up with them rotting.
Hope you do get the green one to ripen if you put it somewhere with some "sun" and enjoy them.
ps if you want others to see your replies you need to add an @ before their names and this will then come up on your message as blue and tell that person you have responded.

 

The seeds are in the bulbous bit at the end, you can just chuck that as there is plenty of good eating in the long neck!
I had them climbing up into the neighbour's laurel hedge so they took up very little space.
I finally cut down the vines yesterday - they were still producing female flowers and embryo fruits right up to the freeze, but with no male flowers and no pollinators around it was a bit of a waste of effort.

 

@Escarpment Thank you for this. Great info

 

@On the Levels thank you for the tip about using @ to draw the intended recipient’s attention to my replies. Obviously I should have read the introduction info properly

 

The sort of dumpy shaped one, I believe, is due to the weather. I had a few that did the same thing and they all formed when we had that long period of hot, dry weather. The ones after, on the same plant, were fine.

There are plenty of people that don't grow butternut squash around here because we don't get a long enough, or reliable enough, season suitable for them every year. I think this is the problem with the green one, it just set to late or didn't get enough warmth when it needed it.

 

@Thevictorian thank you for taking the time to come back to me on this. Yes it was a very hot dry summer in the south east of England. It was not a brilliant growing season. Do you think the green one will be edible as it is (I mean pleasant tasting) despite its current state or should I just leave it somewhere sunny and hope for the best?
TIA