It is my understanding that all squash are edible. Some that develop hardshells later on are only palatable when young. Your volunteer almost certainly comes from a pumpkin, a gourd, or winter squash (acorn, butternut, etc.) of some type. These are the types of squashes that have mature seeds that people buy. The summer squashes like zucchini, patty pan and others are usually eaten at unripe, immature stages so no viable seeds for the heap. From shape, color, and seed cavity at this stage, I'd suspect a pumpkin. Pie pumpkins are very sweet and tasty. Ones grown for carving at Halloween, less so. But roasting and adding some brown sugar and butter will improve the flavor dramatically! FataMorgana Here is a link that might be useful: Wikipedia - Squash

Great Leafbrain, growing with each new day and getting bigger. Up to 80lbs so far and turning bright orange. My neice who is three came over and inspected them. She's very excited about them and can't seem to decide on which one she wants. So warping the vine with tape worked out great. Sorry to hear about you problem. I hope you are able to save the pumpkin. Tamara Last year pumpkins

1. The easiest way to isolate them is to plant them far apart, you'll go crazy if you try to keep them separate during the peak of their growth. There is nothing wrong at all with the vines intermingling. 2. Vines can be easily moved just take note of what the tendrils are attacted to (it is ok to cut/break the tendrils) you don't want to damage the pumpkin vine or any plants they may be trying to overtake. It is fine for them to grow up the fence though, and probably hard to stop in the first place. 3. You never NEED to trim the plants but you are welcome to clip the tips of the vines if they are going where you don't want them or you can simply redirct them. If you want to maximize pumpkin production a good trick is to mound a few inches of soil over the vine, over time the soil will likely wash away and that is fine but what it encourages is for the vines to send down secondary roots at the base of each leaf axil. I cut leaves off as they yellow or start getting powdery mildew. Late in the season I do nothing as it is too much to keep up with. Hope this helps and good luck!

It looks like "Downy Mildew." Get aggressive with it and spray an antifungal that is labeled to treat "Downy Mildew" or it will kill your plant. Good luck!