Permapotes

Courgette

Courgette: Sowing, planting and harvest calendar

A courgette, also called zucchini, is a squash used for its young fruits with tender skin and mild flesh. It suits you if you want a versatile vegetable for gratins, ratatouille or salads. Fruits may be long or round, green or yellow, plain or striped. The familiar dark-green cylinder represents only part of the available diversity, rather than the shape and colour of every courgette.

Most familiar courgettes belong to the species Cucurbita pepo, in the Cucurbitaceae family. They are related to several other squashes but differ from cucumbers and melons, which belong to other genera. The fruit contains seeds that are still little developed at the stage normally used in the kitchen. As it continues growing, the texture of its skin and central seed area changes.

The plant is annual and sensitive to frost. Many varieties have a bushy habit, with a relatively short stem and large leaves arranged around the centre. There are also more trailing forms. Even a variety described as compact has a substantial canopy: this term does not mean that the plant occupies as little room as a small culinary herb. Growth habit is therefore a useful distinction when comparing plants.

The leaves may be lobed, green or marked with silvery patches, depending on the variety. Large yellow flowers are conspicuous. Male and female flowers are separate on the same plant, with a tiny developing courgette at the base of a female flower. Insects normally take part in pollination. Male flowers do not have this swelling, which accounts for the difference in appearance between the flowers.

Varieties include Verte de Milan, Ortolana di Faenza, Ronde de Nice and Blanche d’Égypte. Their fruits do not all have the same outline or colour. Skin, flesh density and the plant’s development provide useful characteristics for comparing forms. A yellow or pale colour alone cannot predict one particular flavour for every variety that has it. Shape and colour are separate from the texture of the flesh.

In the kitchen, the mild flesh accompanies tomatoes, aubergines, herbs and cheese. Courgettes feature in pan-cooked dishes, creamy soups, gratins and stuffed preparations. The flowers are also used in some cuisines. Their gentle flavour and varied shapes support different uses, while the generous foliage and flowers give the vegetable garden a prominent summer presence.

Courgette
Courgette
Characteristics
  • Lifecycle : Annual
  • Exposure : Full Sun
  • Frost Hardiness : Frost Sensitive
  • Cultivation Difficulty : Easy
  • Mature height : 60 cm
Sowing & Planting
  • Greenhouse Growing : Not Required
  • Sowing Depth : 2 cm
  • Plant Spacing : 100 cm
  • Row Spacing : 100 cm
Maintenance
  • Maintenance : Moderate
  • Water Requirements : High
Other characteristics
  • Soil Type : Humus-rich
  • Soil pH Preference : Neutral
  • Pest Sensitivity : Moderate
  • Disease Sensitivity : Moderate
  • Weed Sensitivity : Moderate
  • Pollination : Insect-pollinated
  • Propagation : Sowing