Yup, the husk turns to yellow and eventually brown as it goes through various stages of ripeness.

The fruits often do split like tomatoes. And they are sticky, it's normal.

You can use them at any stage, from small and green through fully ripe and yellowish. In the fall before the killing frost, I pick them clean and use them all no matter how tiny. I don't notice much of a difference in flavor really between green and ripe.

Yes, as denninmi said, that is normal. I usually wait till they fill the husk and the husk dries out a little before picking. Just peel the husk and rinse them and you can use them as you please. Last year, I peeled and rinsed all my extras (and wow did I have extras!) after running out of things to do with them, and froze them in a zip loc. No need to blanch.

Do rinse and scrub them very well. The waxy/sticky coating is saponin, and it tastes nasty. (It's also mildly toxic.)