@JMTKMS: If you're referring to the Valencia Winter Melon (muskmelon), the leaves are wrong for that. This does look like something from the squash family, probably along the lines of a pumpkin if I've got the right feel for size here. Some pumpkins start off dark and later turn orange. Others are simply colors other than orange. This could also easily be a cross depending on what types of squash and pumpkins you and your neighbors grew last year. Not all varieties cross, but those that do tend to cross easily.

@YourGardenShow: Depends on the pumpkin. Messing around cutting one of mine up last year I discovered the flesh tasted good enough raw that I could just slice it up into sticks like carrots and eat it straight or with dip (you get board slicing up a 110lb pumpkin and wondering what to do with that much pumpkin.... )

@Gene: 110 lbs?!!!

@YourGardenShow: Yes. The next closest was 95 lbs. I didn't use any of the tricks of the contest growers either (what they grow is much larger). I treated it exactly as I did the rest of my garden. I'm attaching a picture of some of them complete with one of my garden helpers :) The 110 lb one is the one behind her to the left. The 95 lb one is the one in the front of the picture. We had a lot of pumpkin we needed to do something with after the Halloween display.

@Gene: Interesting idea regarding the pumpkin sticks...I'll have to try it some time.

@Gene: Wow! And you're not just a gardener but a great photographer too.

@YourGardenShow: Actually, it's my wife who took that shot. That's why many of my pictures look like crap and occasionally one looks really good :)

@Gene: amusing - thanks for sharing all your garden stories!

@Gene:   What a great picture... love the garden helper...  but those pumpkins are wonderful!  

@FreyjaW: I use excel. I resize the cells so they're squares and every square represents one square foot. I then carefully measured everything out and made a map. In every square I plant I put a number, and then I have a table where I can reference the number to what I planted. When a new year rolls around I tend to just make a new tab and copy the layout. Occasionally, I'll start a new book. I also use to to keep an inventory of my seeds, used it to design my irrigation layout and tell me how many of what part I needed to by, and to do my research on what I want to plant and then plan my purchases. I've got some other stuff stuffed in there as well. Excel is quite handy.

@Gene: Thats great! I'll have to try that to. Thank you!

@FreyjaW: I keep thinking that maybe I should mock one up and publish it so everyone can see how it ticks. Not sure if that's needed or not to get the ideas across. If several of you were interested though I might get off my lazy rump and do it.