Courgette

Origin & history

Courgettes belong to the species Cucurbita pepo, just like oil-seed pumpkin, patty pan and most ornamental gourds; the species was domesticated in Central America millennia ago and reached Europe after 1492. The elongated courgette form itself, however, is an Italian breeding development of the late 19th century — the name is the diminutive of zucca, pumpkin. In German gardens it only became really widespread in the 1970s and 1980s.

Varieties

Bush courgettes stay put as a compact clump, while climbing varieties can be trained up a frame and save bed space. Yellow varieties have one thoroughly practical advantage: their fruit is far harder to miss among the leaves. Only save your own seed if no other Cucurbita pepo are flowering nearby — courgettes cross with ornamental gourds, and the offspring can carry bitter fruit that does not belong on the plate.

Care

Courgettes are hungry feeders: plenty of compost in the planting hole and regular feeding from the first fruit onward. Water thoroughly at the base and never into the crown, or the base of the stem rots; a straw mulch keeps moisture in the soil and the fruit clean. Cut away the oldest leaves near the ground as the summer goes on — the foliage dries faster and you can actually find the fruit again.

What can go wrong

When the first small fruits turn yellow at the flower end and rot, they were not pollinated: early in the season often only male flowers open, and in cool, wet weather barely an insect flies. You can help by hand in the morning with a male flower — the one on the thin stalk. Powdery mildew from August is almost part of the deal and usually costs only the last weeks of the crop; generous spacing, watering at the base and taking off the worst leaves is answer enough. Young plants are popular with slugs — plant out large and well hardened off, and collect them in the evening for the first few weeks.

Harvest, storage & kitchen

Courgettes are ready at 15 to 20 cm, while the skin still shines and can be dented with a thumbnail. Cut them off with a knife and a bit of stalk; torn fruit keeps less well. They stay fresh for one to two weeks in the vegetable drawer — frozen raw they go mushy, but grated and squeezed out they are fine for cakes and fritters. You can pick the male flowers without losing any of the crop — though leave a few for pollination in the cool early weeks.

Frequently asked questions

When do you sow courgettes?

Raise plants indoors from mid-April to early May, or sow straight into the bed between 15 May and 10 June, roughly 3 cm deep. Raised plants go outside from 20 May — three weeks of lead time is plenty, older ones settle in badly.

How often should courgettes be watered?

In a bed, two thorough soakings a week of a good ten litres per plant, three in a heatwave — frequent sips achieve less than rarer, deeper watering. In a container, check daily in hot weather whether the soil is still moist a hand-width down.

Where is the best spot for courgettes?

Full sun, warm, with air moving through, at about 80 cm within the row and 100 cm between rows. A single plant ends up covering a good square metre, so it belongs in a bed rather than a balcony box.

When can courgettes be picked?

From the beginning of July right through to early October, as long as no frost intervenes. It takes six to eight weeks from sowing to the first fruit; in the main season another one is ready every two or three days.

Can courgettes be overwintered?

No. Courgettes are frost-tender annuals — the first frosty night in autumn ends the plant, and an old specimen brought indoors never amounts to anything. Sow fresh seed for the following year.