Courgettes
Introduction
Courgettes are part of the marrow family, but they have been bred to be picked young when they have a sweet flesh, thin skin, and before their seeds have developed. If courgettes are left to grow large to become marrows, their flavour becomes less sweet, the seeds within become much bigger, and their flesh thickens.
Possible uses for courgettes are in stir fry, lasagna, curry, or chopped fresh into salad, but I can also recommend courgette wine and even courgette cake.
Planting
- Sow in warm conditions (propagator or windowsill)
- Planting depth: 2.5 cm
- Planting spacing: 90 cm between plants, 90 cm between rows
Harvesting
- Best eaten fresh
- Alternatively – chop, blanch, and freeze
(inside)
(outside)
(fresh)
(stored)
= jar, = freeze, 
= store
Varieties
Shops often sell one type of courgette, the straight green variety. A gardener can grow a variety of different shapes and colours. Whilst this adds interest and colour to a garden, I have not found the taste of courgettes to be greatly different between varieties, or indeed those sold in the shops.
What I have learned is how a few mature courgette plants can produce a phenomenal quantity of fruit. Once the plants are established in midsummer, and provided they are well watered and the fruit is picked young, each plant can produce several courgettes a week. A glut of courgettes is a common problem as they do not store well, although they can be chopped, blanched, and frozen.
The easy way for a gardener to organise their growing and discover gardening ideas.
Growing
Courgettes usually grow in a bush shape, with their fruit centred in the middle of the plant protected by the leaves above and around them. They are big plants with a spread of about 1 metre, and they require plenty of water whilst setting fruit. There are dwarf varieties available, but in general, courgettes are best planted in open ground where they have plenty of soil and space to grow.
Like many squash varieties, courgettes do not like cold weather, but sowing late in the season is not a problem. Courgettes grow vigorously, so even sowing in late April (perhaps in a pot on a sunny windowsill) or direct outside in May when there is no chance of a late frost, will allow ample time to enjoy a bumper harvest from July onwards.
The leaves of young courgette plants are a delicacy for slugs and snails. To stop them being eaten, I grow my courgette seedlings as large as possible in pots on a shelf away from risk of attack. When the plants are larger their leaves are much less prone to being eaten, and are safe to be planted out in their final growing postions.
I like to plant out seedlings with a slight concave depression surrounding the plant, so that water naturally flows toward it during watering. In the planting hole, I add a rich mixture of manure and compost underneath the seedling. Courgettes are very greedy plants.
When a courgette plant is in robust health it has the potential to shoot out flowers and courgettes at a rate faster than it is possible to eat. I now plan for only two courgette plants for my family, but grow an additional two plants as a precaution against loss.
Courgettes are best picked when they are between 10-20 centimetres in length. At this size they have their best flavour and most soft skin. Picking early also encourages more fruit to develop. When the courgette plant is in peak health, baby courgettes can swell extremely quickly into a size more like a marrow. In wet weather, you may need to keep a daily eye on the courgettes if you want to pick them at the perfect size.
By late summer, it is common for courgettes to experience powdery mildew on their leaves. My experience is that this is nothing to worry about, as although it indicates the plant is past its best, by that stage of the summer it can come as a relief not to have any more courgettes to eat!