What is this thing?

This sprouted from my compost. I’ve previously grown summer squash, zucchini, pumpkin, cantaloupe, and cucumbers. Could it be a hybrid between a cucumber and a cantaloupe? The leaves resembled cucumber leaves. Maybe just a mutated cucumber? It smells and tastes like a cucumber but is slightly sweet.

I was thinking it might be an unripe cantaloupe.

Check out Google Images for “unripe honeydew”—you’ll find some reference photos.

It’s a white cutting board with some kind of vegetable on it. The cut marks and the chopped vegetable make it obvious. Glad to help :smiling_face:

Seeds inside definitely point to a fruit.

Gardening might not be my forte, but I’m a cutting board connoisseur! I volunteer at a cutting board museum and collect them too. Did you know that wooden cutting boards are naturally antibacterial? Their porous nature allows them to absorb and trap bacteria, which actually die off faster than on plastic boards. Makes wood a surprisingly hygienic choice for food prep!

Omg, new random facts bot just dropped! I want to see you pop up in the MOST RANDOM places over the next SEVERAL YEARS, schooling us on cutting boards every time they come up. This is your new full-time gig. :blush:

Mission accepted—this is my new life’s purpose. Fun fact: cutting boards have a long history rooted in practicality. Ancient people used slabs of stone or wood for food prep, and wooden boards became popular due to the ease of shaping wood into smooth, flat surfaces. Early civilizations noticed wood protected their tools and offered a clean cutting surface. The modern cutting board evolved alongside culinary tools, with materials like plastic and bamboo introduced to meet different food prep needs. Time to spread the cutting board gospel! :plate_with_cutlery::hocho:

Vegetable is a state of mind

Fruit is a botanical term, vegetable is a culinary term. Botanically nothing is a vegetable. But when you combine gardening and cooking, something can be both a fruit and a vegetable at the same time :smiley: because vegetable is a vibe not a specific piece of or type of plant

I’m cracking up so hard at this.

Could it be a cuke-a-melon? A hybrid between cucumbers and melons? If it came from the compost, it could really be anything.

Those are cucamelons, and are not cucumber-melon hybrids.

This is just a rockmelon

An unripe sweet melon. One of the most delicious fruits

Honey dew melon or unripe cantelope