The last courgettes

October 11, 2015 by Carole 4 Comments

They’ve done brilliantly well, but the courgettes are finally done. Only two of the plants are still green, and although they do have baby courgettes on them, I doubt they’ll develop any further now. I really can’t complain though as they’ve kept us supplied all summer long, fruiting before any of the other veggies and keeping me busy finding new ways to cook them, and preserving the rest.

I’m planning to grow some more of that variety next year, but fewer plants, and also try a couple of other varieties.

I’ve finally given up on the butternut squash. Twelve plants and not one squash from them. The weather was against us this year, so I’ll give them another go next year, but just two or three plants. I’m going to give more space to things that did well for me, such as courgettes and beans.

I still haven’t harvested a single pepper. There are lots in the greenhouse, but they’re still green and are showing no signs of wanting to ripen to yellow or red, depending on the variety. I may have to cut my losses and pick them green and make them into chutney.

The tomatoes are still going strong. The ones in the greenhouse are still providing three or four a week, but the Sungold, outside, are keeping us in almost more than we can eat – and I eat a lot of salad. We’ve still only had a few from the tumbling toms, so they may be going into chutney with the peppers as there are lots of green ones on there.

I don’t think we’ll be buying many preserves for a while as the under-stairs cupboard is getting quite full.