Is immature winter squash edible? Tasty?

I planted Lofthouse Maxima winter squash, and again this year they have been more productive than the other variety that I planted. We'll be getting frost sometime in early or mid October, ie in the next two weeks.

There are 5 large mature squash on this vine, about 4 to 5 kg each, and there's another new little fresh green one. On other vines, I had a kobocha that I already harvested 3 fruits but it now has two more, and on three more Lofthouse vines that I kept only one fruit on each back in August, there are a couple of little ones.

I will keep the mature squashes until late winter, but the new fruits have no hope of ripening before the first frost in the next couple of weeks. I've read that under-ripe winter squash can be eaten like summer squash.

Do you think I can just cook them up like zucchini or will they be not very good and not worth it?

Also of course I have the usual squash harvesting question: The stems on these large maximas are not going completely corky but I'm starting to worry that there could be a frost any day. I cut off the smallest one today, that I think had set earliest (the one in the photo) but I'm anxious about when to harvest the other mature ones.

I think immature winter squash are better than zucchini. They have a firmer texture and more flavour.

Great! I'll go ahead with it then! Thanks for giving me the confidence.

Yes indeed, I tried it, and they're very good! The winter squash that are small (about 1/4 the size of their mature siblings) and still greenish on the outside are delicious raw or cooked!

Raw, with the skin still on, it's crunchy like carrot, and very mildly sweet. It would be good in a mixed salad as a crunchy element.

Cooked, I tried it slivered and fried, and that was fine. Next time I'll make a veg curry with it, and I'm sure it will be good in that.

Also, just noting here in case you have to bring in immature melons, too, I've learned two great things this year about them:

1) Underripe melons will continue ripening indoors, and I've had a few now that turned out to be incredibly sweet and delicious a week or more after I brought them indoors.

2) Sorbet! You can freeze chunks of underripe melon, then thaw them later and make a delicious smoothie, adding other fruits with more flavor. Or if you have a strong blender (or an Indian mixie like I do) then thaw them only slightly, eg move them from the freezer to the fridge for a few hours, and then when you grind the soft-frozen melon chunks with sweetener and lemon or other tart fruit (I used tart peaches), and just enough fruit juice or water to make it move, it makes a wonderful sorbet. You have to serve it immediately or freeze only briefly, but it's a very elegant thing, and not something you'd expect to be able to serve as a homegrown product.