Grow your own courgettes
How to sow courgettes in just six weeks.
Follow these steps...
3. Choose a sunny, sheltered spot and dig a hole, adding a trowel of compost to the soil. Plant out your courgette plants 90cm apart. Give thema mulch of 5cm of compost to help the soil hold moisture.
4. Give your plants a weekly liquid feed and harvest regularly when they reach 10cm long
Tips
- Courgettes need plenty of water, but take care always to water at the base of the plant only or they'll rot.
- Keeping the soil permanently just moist is ideal.
- The large fleshy flowers can be eaten, but fewer courgettes will develop if you harvest too many.
- Remember that courgettes are young marrows, so you can get two different crops on one plant if you let some develop into marrows.
Best for flavour
- Zucchini: A classic, dark green courgette that crops early and has a delicated texture.
- Tondo Di Nizza: A pale-skinned spherical fruit that's full of flavour and never gets tough, even when harvested larger than it really should be.
- Parador: Long, bright golden-yellow courgettes with a smooth texture and lots of flavour for a yellow variety (which tend to be milder).


