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Hello and welcome to the BBC Gardenous World magazine podcast, brought to you by the team here at the magazine. Join us as we chat all things gardening with the nation's favorite experts. Courgettes, also known as zucchini in some parts of the world, are a type of summer squash. They're a staple in British gardens and prize for their prolific nature and versatility in the kitchen. The plants have large, lush leaves and produce tender fruits that are best picked when young for the finest flavor and texture. And I love them. Hello and welcome to the BBC Gardenous World magazine's so-along podcast. I'm Claire Vannis, audio and visual editor. Even if you don't have a large garden, vegetable plot or allotment, just one courgette plant, grown in the ground or in a pot, can provide plenty of veg for delicious harvests later this year. Courgettes are wonderfully diverse in color, texture, shape and growth habit. The long, straight courgettes are the variety we see in the supermarkets, but the benefit to growing your own is the opportunity it provides to try different shapes and tastes. The classic green courgette, such as Defender, is a reliable, disease-resistant courgette. There's the round courgette like Italian tondo denisa and ribbed, such as Romanesco. You'll also find yellow and striped courgettes too. Round courgettes are fabulous for stuffing. Long courgettes for slicing and grilling, and the ribbed varieties are often firmer and have a nuttier flavor. Choosing a mix of varieties can add both color and interest to your plot and your plate. Courgettes are remarkably easy to grow from seed, and now is the perfect time to get started. Here's how. So courgette seeds indoors from late April to early May. If you're in a milder part of the country or have a greenhouse, you can start a little earlier, but beware of late frosts. Fill seven centimeter pots with a good quality, peat-free multi-purpose compost. Courgettes have large seeds, so they're easy to handle. Place one seed per pot on its side, about two centimeters deep. Sewing on the flat can cause the seed to rot, so do angle it slightly. Water gently and place the pots somewhere warm. A sunny window, soil or heated propagator is ideal. The seeds will usually germinate within seven to ten days. Once seedlings have two true leaves and all risk of frost has passed, it's time to harden them off. This means gradually acclimatizing them to outdoor conditions over a week or so. When you're ready to plant and grow on your courgette plants outside, choose a sunny, sheltered spot with fertile, moisture-retentive soil. Courgettes are hungry plants, so dig in plenty of well-rotten manure or compost before planting. Give each plant plenty of room, at least 90 centimeters apart in every direction, and plant your courgettes at the same depth as they were in their pots. Then water in well. Keep the soil consistently moist and mulch around the plants to conserve water and suppress weeds. A fortnightly feed with a high potash fertilizer such as a tomato feed will help boost flowering and fruiting. Courgettes are generally trouble-free, but there are a few issues to watch out for. Slugs and snails can devastate young plants, so protect your seedlings by using physical barriers like clashes. Powdery mildew, the white powdery fungus, can appear in dry weather, so keep plants well-watered and remove affected leaves to improve air circulation. And the cucumber mosaic virus causes mottled, distorted leaves and stunted growth. Unfortunately, there's no cure, so remove and destroy affected plants. Courgettes do grow quickly and are best picked when they're about 10 to 15 centimeters long, roughly the size of a small torch. Regular picking encourages the plants to keep producing. Use a sharp knife or secateurs to cut the fruits cleanly from the stem. And don't forget, you can also harvest the flowers. They're edible and delicious stuffed or fried. Once your harvest has begun, there are a myriad of ways you can enjoy eating them. Courgettes are incredibly versatile. Enjoy them sliced and sautéed, spiralized in salads or grilled on the barbecue. They're also wonderful in bakes, fritters or even cakes. And homegrown courgettes are so much more flavorful than shot-bought ones, you'll really taste the difference. So whether you're a novice or a regular grower of veg, courgettes are a rewarding crop that bring a taste of summer to your table. Give them a try this year and you'll be enjoying a bumper harvest in just a few months time. Happy sowing and may your courgettes flourish. Thanks for listening to the BBC Gardeners World Magazine podcast. Subscribe now wherever you get your podcasts and never miss an episode. If you enjoyed this episode, please tell others about it and rate us in your podcast provider app. If your team isn't using your CRM, it isn't working. PipeDrive is a simple CRM. It's easy to use so you can focus on closing. Get 30 days free at pipedrive.com forward slash audio. Hello my fellow nature lovers, I'm Katrina Ridley and I'm Amy Chapman and we're so excited to be hosting Connect to Nature. Now in this podcast we'll be meeting some amazing people truly redefining what it means to get close to nature from rewilding responsibly and challenging fast fashion to embracing technology, battling eco anxiety and discussing what makes us feel alive outdoors. Join us on Connect to Nature and be sure to follow wherever you get your podcasts.
