Top Performer

Zucchini are easy to grow, crop abundantly and are endlessly versatile in the kitchen.

- Melissa King

Zucchini are generous plants to have in the summer garden, with their abundance of glossy fruit. They are easy to grow and such good croppers that during harvest time you can be out in the veggie patch picking zucchinis for not only your own use but for friends and family as well.

With fruit in such abundance, it’s nice to know they are surprisingly versatile in the kitchen, used to make everything from classic zucchini bread to muffins, pastas and frittatas — even sweet zucchini cake. The brightyellow flowers can also be stuffed with exotic ingredients such as olives, anchovies, basil and ricotta, then battered and fried.

And what a choice of proven varieties. Zucchini ‘Black Beauty’ has been a summer staple in the veggie garden since the 1950s, grown for its glossy, dark-green fruit with creamy flesh. Harvest the fruit when it’s roughly 15cm long for tender, flavoursome zucchini.

Or bring a splash of sunshine to the garden and plate with Zucchini ‘Golden’. These are fast-growing and prolific, producing a bumper crop of long, slender fruit in just nine weeks. They are delicious raw or cooked and added to ratatouille, salads and stir-fries for a burst of cheery colour.

The Italian heirloom ‘Costata’ is another variety that’s quick to harvest, producing attractive, heavily ribbed fruit just six weeks from sowing, with up to 25 zucchini per plant. For extra impact on the plate, try slicing ‘Costata’ zucchinis before serving — the cut, ribbed slices resemble stars.