Courgettes

Here is a picture of the two latest courgette fruits. We usually categorise it as a vegetable, but, just like tomatoes, peppers, aubergines, cucumbers and avocados, the courgettes that we eat are the fruit of the plant. Meaning, a fleshy cover protecting the seeds - the same as apples, peaches or figs.

For size comparison I've placed a large lemon (from the supermarket, unfortunately - I wish we had enough space for a small orchard and enough sun for a lemon tree) and a salt grinder in the composition. The larger courgette is probably the largest size it should be harvested before it turns into a squash...



This may be a good place to mention garden productivity. Some crops have finished, others have been squeezed out due to space limitations, and some are still to come (tomatoes). Here is the tally, as far as I remember it:

* radishes - 25ish; could have more, but the tray is now on a shelf, with little light

* strawberries - 2 handfuls, not a very rich harvest but that's common in the first year

* salad leaves, including spinach, pea shoots and rocket - about 12 salads; same fate as the radishes

* courgettes - 10 (including the uneaten ones above), with plenty still to ripen, but also more flowers to be set

* patty pan squash - 2

* butternut squash - nothing ripe yet, several growing

* tomatoes - not ripe yet

I have also harvested herbs aplenty - rosemary, mint, parsley, marjoram, thyme, sage and bay leaf; what's missing this year is basil.