a squash growing out of my compost....

[Javaman]

I put in my compost into my garden earlier this year and out pops this mystery squash.

any idea what it could be?

[Scuba]

1. Easy, it's a volunteer!

[Downwinder]

2. You obviously don't have any alfalfa hay in your compost.

http://digital.vpr.net/post/year-long-investigation-finds-chemical-herbicide-compost

[Javaman]

7. I never by outside compost.

it's always my own.

[Downwinder]

9. Neighbor here was given some alfalfa hay which she fed to her

horses and then put in her compost. In her words, "All the tomatoes i put out this year had all this weird stunted twisty growth and I found out it was
herbicide damage and look how i got it."

[sinkingfeeling]

3. I've had watermelons come from my compost pile.

[postulater]

4. Oh my Gourd!

It's alien!

Seriously, where are you that you already have fruit like that?

[Javaman]

5. Austin, Texas. :)

I also have, to brag a bit, a mess of spaghetti squash as well.

this one, however, is proving to be a quandary.

[OnyxCollie]

6. Don't fall asleep next to it.

[enough]

8. It's a beaut! Looks like haute couture. (nt)

[CrispyQ]

10. It's gorgeous!

How cool.

[Major Nikon]

11. My guess is it's some type of wild gourd that has cross pollinated with another squash

Certain varieties of squash will cross pollinate and create random shapes and colors. It probably won't be too good for eating, but it will likely dry to a hard shell so you might be able to make something out of it.

[Sentath]

12. Lovely, but apparently guessing it's ancestry is almost impossible.

I link this with a little caution, because I do not know what the author thinks a citron is, but I know it isn't a melon.

http://www.walterreeves.com/food-gardening/squashpumpkincucumberwatermelon-pollination-explanation/

[Javaman]

13. Thanks!

I think you are right. I'm now believing it's a cross pollination of a summer squash and zucchini.

[FloriTexan]

14. One could call it is a Squashmelon

Looks like a melding or a squash and a water melon

[lululu]

15. Potatoes grow in my compost pile.

That is a lovely whateveritis.