In early autumn this year we enjoyed the gift that keeps on giving: a prolific crop of zucchinis. For a while there they lurked under leaves all over the garden and had to be picked every day. While I happily perfected my zucchini soup and my partner did the same with her zucchini tart, we started to run out of ways to use the proliferation of gourds. It was the green veg of choice for many meals and we often had pesto with zoodles (spiralised zucchini) in place of pasta. We gave them to friends and family and still had more than enough.
A zucchini is essentially an immature cylindrical marrow, which is what the fully grown version is called in Britain. Take your eye off it and it will grow up to a metre in length but is best enjoyed when around 20cm, well before it becomes woody and full of water.
While treated in the kitchen as a vegetable, like the tomato it’s botanically classed as a fruit — specifically, a berry or pepo, the swollen ovary of a flower. Both male and female zucchini flowers, as well as the leaves, may also be eaten.
AN OVERVIEW
Zucchini — Italian for “little squash” (or zucca) — was first described by that name in Milan in 1901. Oddly enough, the word courgette, used in the UK, New Zealand and other countries, is also a diminutive derived from the French word courge, meaning “gourd” or “marrow”.
Like all squash, zucchini originated in the Americas. It was introduced to Italy where it was cultivated widely then travelled back to the US with Italian immigrants in the late-19th and early-20th centuries.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة Good Organic Gardening #11.4 من Good Organic Gardening.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة Good Organic Gardening #11.4 من Good Organic Gardening.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
Glamour girls
EVERYONE LOVES A HARDWORKING ISA BROWN BUT GET A LOAD OF THESE CHIC CHICKENS AND FEATHERED FASHIONISTAS
FRIED VEG
IT’S POSSIBLE TO ENJOY A FRY-UP IN A DELICIOUSLY HEALTHY WAY BY TURNING TO SOME FRY-FRIENDLY PLANTS
BEYOND BIG RED
TOMATOES COME IN ALL SHAPES, SIZES AND COLOURS, SO NOW’S THE TIME TO EXPLORE THEIR INFINITE VARIETY
EVEN MORE TROPPO
ANOTHER SENSATIONAL SIX TO CONSIDER FOR YOUR GARDEN — OR YOUR FRUIT SALAD
LET'S STALK RHUBARB
JUST AS TOMATO IS A FRUIT USED AS A VEGETABLE, RHUBARB IS A VEGETABLE COMMONLY CONSUMED AS A DESSERT
FOOD OF THE GODS
THE FLESHY FRUIT OF THE FICUS WAS MUHAMMAD’S FAVOURITE AND BUDDHA FOUND ENLIGHTENMENT UNDER A FIG TREE
MAKING GOOD BETTER
THE IRREPRESSIBLE TV PRESENTER WRITES ABOUT HOW SHE, WITH HUSBAND ANTON AND DAUGHTER FRIDA, TURNED A STEEP HOBART BLOCK INTO A PRODUCTIVE GARDEN
True lily
MANY PLANTS ARE CALLED LILIES BUT IT’S THE MEMBERS OF THE GENUS LILIUM THAT ARE THE REAL DEAL
SALTY BUDS
THE CAPER BUSH PRODUCES TWO DISTINCT BUT EQUALLY DELICIOUS, TANGY MORSELS: CAPERS AND CAPERBERRIES
Ducks on duty
BUSY, VIGILANT, HARD ON GARDEN PESTS AND GENEROUS LAYERS — YOU’VE GOTTA LOVE A DUCK!