Organic Courgette Cocozelle Seeds

Cucurbita pepo var. cylindrica

One of the easiest and prolific vegetables to grow, courgettes are a great choice for your garden.
All of our varieties are bush types so the plants are more compact though they can still get quite large. Try to pick courgettes regularly when they are quite small, between 10 and 15cm long, to ensure a regular supply throughout the summer. They come in a variety of shapes and colour; elongated or round, dark green, yellow and stripy. The flowers are large and yellow. Male flowers are on straight stems while the female flowers have the immature fruits at their base. They are pollinated by bees and other insects.

Protect young plants from slugs. Courgettes can be effected by Cucumber mosaic virus. CMV is spread by aphids and causes stunted growth and mottled leaves with alternating light green and dark green patches but don’t confuse this with the natural colouration of courgette leaves.
The yellow fruited varieties particularly have quite yellow leaves. Courgettes can also suffer from powdery mildew, a foliar fungal disease which causes whitish grey patches to form and spread on the leaves.
It is usually only a problem at the end of the season, pick off effected leaves and try not to let the plants dry out.

Slice to the desired shape and steam or fry as an accompanying vegetable. Tempura small, young courgettes with their flowers on if very fresh. Courgettes are ideal in stir fry, stew, lasagne, quiche and vegetable crumble or made into gratin with tomatoes. They can be sliced and griddled with olive oil or grated and made into fritters.