Tino Carnevale: zucchini

You’ve got to love a crop where one of the only downsides to growing it is the excess harvest, says TINO CARNEVALE

Every year I do it. I think back to the last season and somehow tell myself that there wasn’t quite enough, conveniently forgetting the jars, labour and neighbours needed to deal with such a glut. So off I go planting more zucchini than I need.

Zucchinis are the slender relations of the pumpkin but, unlike their rambling cucurbit cousins that can smother your garden like the loving embrace of an Italian nonna, they contain themselves better and usually only spread over a metre or so.

Cucurbits, including zucchini, are made for sun. Provided with enough water they seem to visibly soak up the sunshine and convert it into carbohydrates, in turn creating seemingly endless amounts of fruit until the plants die off in late summer or autumn. They love the sun, but the wind not so much. Most years the wind causes a few damaged leaves but there are years in my cold, windy Hobart garden when entire plants are lost. I have had strong, vigorous plants filled with flowers, just days away from fruit, snapped off at the base and rolled, tumbleweed-like, into a quiet corner of the garden by a blustery wind. So in a cold, windy spot, make sure your zucchini have shelter.

GETTING STARTED

These plants grow and produce in most soil types, given adequate drainage, food and water, but they produce for the longest period in deep soil that is rich in organic matter. The best crops I have grown were in fine and crumbly compost made from the previous autumn’s leaves.

In the tropics, zucchinis are a crop to grow over the dry season, but everywhere else spring is the time to sow seed. Start seed in small pots (coir pots are ideal) to plant out as the season warms, or sow directly in the ground in soils that are already warm. For gardeners who prefer to buy seedlings, there are plenty of punnets of seedlings available from late spring and into summer.

I add lots of compost where I am growing zucchini, and use a fork to mix it into the soil before raking it up to form planting mounds. These provide the good

drainage these plants need to avoid root or stem rots later. Deep soils also allow the roots to reach further down, which puts them in good stead as the season gets warm or windy.

Compost usually provides enough nourishment in good soils but add blood and bone or well-rotted animal manure for additional nutrients in poor soils. Then all that’s needed is a couple of applications of fish emulsion through summer. This gives zucchinis a quick hit to make them feel and look young again. If all’s well, they will keep growing and fruiting until it gets too cold, or the first frost hits.

HARVESTING

With zucchinis, the more you pick, the more you get. Check vines daily and cut fruit off with a small knife when it’s about 10cm long so you don’t end up with inedible woody zeppelins! Spines on their leaves and stems make harvesting perilous so approach the vines with caution.