"Look!  A squash is growing in our corn patch," said Michael.

"Looks like a butternut squash," said Daddy.  "But I don't remember planting any."  Michael and Daddy spent the rest of the afternoon pulling weeds out of the corn patch.  They found some tomato plants growing there, too.

"Where did those tomato plants come from?" Michael asked.

"Oh, probably from a rotten old tomato that we threw in the compost pile last year," said Daddy.

"But I thought everything turned to dirt in the compost pile," said Michael.

"Most things do -- thanks to worms and other little critters," said Daddy.  "But not everything turns into dirt.  Some seeds remain the way they were.  And when we add the compost back into our garden, the seeds sprout.  Just like those tomato plants."

"And our butternut squash," said Michael. 

The next day, Michael and Daddy pulled weeds out of the bean patch.  And the day after, they pulled weeds out of the beet patch.

Summer went by.  Michael and Daddy ate fresh vegetables of all different colors -- juicy red tomatoes, sweet purple beets, crunchy orange carrots, green peas and beans, and sweet yellow corn.  Michael waited for the squash to ripen.  He watched it getting bigger as the weeks went by.

When autumn came, the garden was almost finished.  There was just the one butternut squash left.  It looked ready -- it was no longer hard and green.

Michael bent over and snapped the round ball of squash from its stem.  Surprise!  It wasn't a squash after all.  He ran over to Daddy.

"Our surprise squash is a cantaloupe!" said Michael.

That evening, Michael and Daddy ate a juicy orange cantaloupe after supper.  It was better than a surprise squash.

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Kids, this really happened in our garden one summer!  To make your own compost, click here.

A slightly different version of Surprise Squash! was first published in June 2005 issue of Our Little Friend.