Recently the pressure steam release valve from my Instant Pot went missing. I scoured the kitchen in search of it, but to no avail. In a last ditch effort I went to the compost pail we have right outside our kitchen door to see if it might have accidentally made it into the compost collection. With trepidation (and for good reason, pretty stinky!!) I dumped that bucket into a wheel barrow to rummage through…ugh, I can still recall that smell. Sadly it was not there. I transferred the contents of the wheel barrow to the compost bin and then rinsed the wheel barrow with the hose right next to my raised bed, dumping the few remaining contents onto the grass and rinsing again. A few days later….lo and behold, the silver lining to my smelly compost story…there were squash sprouts growing in the ground!  I quickly googled and found that they are indeed edible.

Next step was doing it on purpose.  I always LOVE to find purposes for something I was going to toss in the compost bin or trashcan…think Oven Roasted Leek Greens, Oven Roasted Cauliflower Leaves or Crispy Veggie Peel Curls!  So the next time I was prepping carnival squash I chopped the squash in half and scooped and saved the raw seeds…I didn’t even fuss over separating them from the little bits of orange flesh I scooped from the center of the squash. I dumped the raw seeds into a clay pot filled with seed starter soil and covered with a thin layer of more soil. Within days those had sprouted too…and they were yummy. I have since tried butternut and delicata seeds and both have worked and are tasty. They are best when they are smaller, before they form “true leaves”, as they get a little fuzzy when they get larger, though still edible and certainly would be tasty as cooked greens.
Not ready to plant them, no problem…you can throw the seeds into a ziplock bag and store them in the fridge until you are ready to start a batch, which might even increase their chances of germination, although I had no trouble putting them straight into a pot…Give these a try and let me know what you think!

P.S.  I was just out there and some of those original sprouts have now turned into plants with their “true leaves”. Grow where you are planted, right?!
Note to self…I think we need to re-sod.