🥒 Courgette

Courgettes are among the most productive vegetables you can grow: two or three plants can feed a family all summer and still produce a glut. They are easy and reliable, thriving on rich soil, sun and water, and the large yellow flowers are edible.

Choose green, yellow or round types for variety. Plants are big, so need room, but a single plant in a large pot or growing bag works on a balcony. Compact bush varieties suit small gardens.

Varieties to try

Defender (heavy cropping, virus-resistant)Zucchini (classic dark green)Gold Rush (golden yellow)Eight Ball (round, perfect for stuffing)Tondo di Piacenza (round, trailing, heirloom)

Sow indoors from April to early May, placing seeds on their edge, 2 cm deep, in 9 cm pots of multipurpose compost at 18–20°C. They germinate in a week and grow fast. You can also sow directly outside in late May to June, under a cloche, where the soil has warmed.

Harden off plants for 10 days and plant out after the last frost, from late May, into fertile, moisture-retentive soil enriched with plenty of compost or manure. Space them 90 cm apart; a mound or shallow dish around each plant helps hold water.

Top tips

• Sow seeds on their edge.
• Do not plant out until frosts have finished.
• Dig in lots of compost first.
• Allow 90 cm per plant.

Water deeply and regularly, particularly once fruits begin to form, aiming the water at the base and avoiding the leaves. Mulch around the plants with compost or straw. Feed fortnightly with a high-potash fertiliser once the first fruits appear.

Small fruits that rot at the end are generally poorly pollinated; in cool or wet weather, hand-pollinate by transferring pollen from the male flower to the female flower (with the baby fruit behind it) with a small brush. Powdery mildew often arrives in late summer; remove affected leaves and keep plants watered. Slugs target young plants.

Top tips

• Water at the base, not on the leaves.
• Hand-pollinate in cool, wet weather.
• Feed fortnightly once fruiting.
• Protect young plants from slugs.

Watch out for

Slugs and snailsPowdery mildewCucumber mosaic virusPoor pollination in cold, wet summers

Pick courgettes when they are 10–15 cm long, from July until the first frost. Cut with a sharp knife, leaving a short piece of stem. Check plants every day or two in midsummer: courgettes grow incredibly fast and can become marrows overnight.

Regular cutting keeps the plant producing, while a marrow left on the plant will stop further fruiting. The flowers are also edible and delicious stuffed and fried; choose male flowers (on a long thin stalk) and leave plenty of female flowers to fruit.

Top tips

• Pick at 10–15 cm for best flavour.
• Check daily in midsummer.
• Use male flowers for cooking.
• Cut, don’t twist, off the plant.

Courgettes are versatile: grill, roast, fry, spiralise into noodles, grate into cakes and fritters, or stir into pasta sauces and ratatouille. Stuff the round types with rice and cheese. Small, young fruit can be eaten raw, thinly sliced in salads. Courgette flowers are a delicacy.

Fresh courgettes keep for a week in the fridge. To freeze, grate and squeeze out water before freezing in bags in portions, ideal for soups, bakes and cakes. Chutneys and relishes preserve larger gluts, and marrows can be stuffed and roasted.

Top tips

• Grate and freeze surplus courgettes.
• Salt and drain slices before frying.
• Stuff and bake the flowers.
• Turn marrows into chutney.