CHECK COURGETTE PLANTS EVERY DAY

Finger-sized baby fruit turn to monster marrows in the blink of an eye.

I grew two plants from one Little Garden peat pot given away by New World. The variety is ‘Black Beauty’ which I haven’t grown before. Both plants are large, healthy and extremely productive.

There’s no sign of powdery mildew yet (fingers crossed) but in humid Auckland it’s just a matter of time. I don’t usually bother to spray – plants with a dandruff dusting of mildew still manage to produce crops. By the time the plants succumb to an ugly full-scale infection I’m tired of eating courgettes and I’m ready Ray Garnet’s easy courgette pickle Ingredients:

1 kg small courgettes

2 medium onions

1⁄ cup plain salt

4

21⁄ cups white vinegar

4

1⁄ teaspoon dry mustard powder

2

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon ground tumeric 1 teaspoon of one of the following seeds: dill, caraway, mustard or celery.

Method:

Wash and trim courgettes and slice thinly. Chop onions and put them and the courgettes into a large glass or china bowl and cover with water. Add the salt, stir and allow to stand for one hour. Then rinse and drain. Meanwhile, bring the remaining ingredients to the boil. Pour over the drained vegetables, stir and let the mixture stand for another hour. Then bring to the boil for just three minutes before packing into hot sterilised jars. Seal immediately or store in the fridge to eat straight away.

to rip out the plants in favour of autumn and winter veges.

But this year I’m suffocating thrips on my vireyas with Grosafe Enspray 99 and using the leftovers of each sprayer load to give the courgettes a preventive spray. Grosafe Enspray 99 is a highpurity BioGro-certified organic spraying oil that can be used to