Frets about courgettes

A late frost has zapped Toby’s young plants – but he has a plan to help speed things along for his next Italian fix…

- Toby

IN these unsure times, there is still one certainty that you can rely on: you’ll never have the right amount of courgettes…

Back in April, I sowed dozens of the shield-shaped seeds with what turned out to be a false spring in my step. The leaves had barely yawned open in the sunshine when they were cut down by a cruel and late frost. Overnight, I had gone from a guaranteed glut to a shortage – and although still alive, once courgettes catch a cold they take an age to recover.

So I’m playing courgette catch-up, and introducing a two-pronged recovery program using pots of seed sown in the polytunnel as well as seeds straight in the ground (see the panel below). And it’s needed more than ever.

Since I discovered that slicing courgettes into disks and cooking to mush wasn’t compulsory, they have become a family favourite. I’ve also made my recipe repertoire more appetizing by called them Italian names – all food tastes better in Italian – so at Casa Bucklano the humble gourd isn’t simply grated but elevated into zucchini frittatas and zucchini spaghetti.