The Mystery Squash Experiment

While chopping down some out-of-control weeds for my neighbors. (See my Weed Getting post.) I happened upon a few old, dried up squashes in their garden. I decided to take them home and conduct an experiment. I have no idea what kind of squashes they are, or how long they have been there, but I have decided to retrieve the seeds, see if they are still viable, and find out what kind of squash they might be. My method for this experiment is simple: smash open the husks, sift through the contents and retrieve the seeds. This being done, I shall plant the seeds, and wait for them to grow. If the seeds are still viable, they will grow and make more squashes, and those squashes can subsequently be identified based on their physical characteristic. (I've been reading HG Wells, can you tell by my grammar and wording?)

First things first, I have spread out some newspaper on my kitchen counter. Using a hammer I have carefully broken open the husk of my first squash, revealing the dried up "guts" inside. Judging by the formation of the guts, I should think that these squashes may be spaghetti squash, but we will have to wait and see! 

It doesn't take much effort to break apart the guts and pick out the seeds. At first my intention was to break open both husks, however, upon finding that there are a great many seeds to be harvested from the first of the two, I think that one shall suffice. Since the husk, guts, and seeds were already dried by the sun, I shouldn't think that any further processing is in order.

I have simply picked out the seeds, rubbed gently to remove any excess remnants of the guts, and set the seeds aside. Many of the seeds at the bottom of the husk (where it had previously rested upon the ground) were stuck, and the guts had packed them down firmly. These seeds, I decided, would not likely be viable, and were discarded. So, now that the seeds have been retrieved from the squash husks, where shall the experiment go?

 I will use these seeds in my upcoming Starting Seeds post, to see if they will sprout and grow. Therefore, it needs be that you should check with me again at a later date and see what transpires. When my Starting Seeds post is uploaded, I will update this page with a link for you to follow.