6. Good Organic Gardening - November-December 2016 AvxHome.in

FAMILY HEIRLOOMS | Zucchini
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Zucchini are easy to grow, crop abundantly
and are endlessly versatile in the kitchen
Words 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 vegie patch picking zucchinis, not
only for 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 bright-yellow
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 vegie garden since
the 1950s, grown for its glossy, darkgreen
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’.
‘Golden’ zucchini 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.
You’ll also love Zucchini ‘Cocozelle’,
another heirloom from Italy with long,
light-green fruit with dark-green stripes.
Harvest 50 days from sowing for tender
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