The first courgettes of the season! Hurrah! I discovered them in typical courgette fashion, ie "Good Lord! When did that pop up? Better chop it down quick before it turns into a marrow", it was even more of a surprise as it turned up on the runtiest plant on the allotment, one which was chilled by the late frost this year has sulked ever since. I was sure that my pampered courgette in our toasty, sheltered back garden would win the race but it's fruit are looking quite weedy in comparison. I'm very excited about making my courgette pickle again this year, it proved really quite popular so I'll be making lots this round.
Continuing on the squash theme, I'm growing 3 pumpkin plants for the first time this year. One Crown Prince from seed saved from the pumpkin Rachel gave me last year and two anonymous orange ones I bought from the garden centre and then forgot to keep their labels (oops). The anonymous plants are huge and have begun to set lots of little fruit. I've read that I need to keep a maximum of 3 fruit per plant to get them to a decent size so I chopped a few little ones off but have kept about 5 fruit on each, I'm fearful that if I go down to 3 straight away there's a risk they may fail for some reason or other. I'll wait til they get a bit bigger (they're golf ball sized at the moment) and then chop the two weakest/smallest off.
Has anyone out there grown summer squash other than courgettes, Patty Pan or similar? I was thinking of giving them a go next year but I'm not sure what they taste like, are they just courgettes in a pretty dress?
Your right about the courgettes, harvest them before they turn into a monster marrow.
ReplyDeleteI've grown a sweet squash which is autumnal, but not a summer one.
I've never grown summer squash but quite a few people down my plot do so i will see if I can try one and give you the verdict. Would love that recipe for courgette pickle.
ReplyDeleteMy pumpkin is going mad so i will have to think about cutting it back to see if i can get some large ones.
Happy gardening!!
Oh and i am growing butternut squash...well at least attempting to but the seeds don't want to germinate...gggrrr
If you click on the link, the recipe is there (link works for me, hope it does for you too, Blogger's rubbish at links sometimes) It was honestly one of my most popular preserves last year and the sole reason I've planted 6 courgette plants this year!
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