July is about growing plants to eat.
(This month I’m looking at edible gardens – an allotment, herb gardens, a potager or even a single tomato plant. If you want to go bigger then why not a rice terrace in China, a field of corn in the prairies or lavender in Provence; you decide )
Where did courgettes come from? As a child of the fifties they weren’t around. All we had to eat were those large tasteless marrows, sometimes stuffed with minced meat and sliced. I didn’t eat them along with turnips and swede and parsnips. The only vegetables that passed my lips were potatoes, carrots, beans, peas and brassicas – my favourite meal was a jacket potato and cabbage and I even loved that much maligned vegetable the sprout (still do). But fast-forward several decades and not only are courgettes popular in recipes, they also come in different colours. Even the flowers can be stuffed and dipped in batter and deep-fried. Or added to salads. Edible flowers. Didn’t have those in the fifties either.
Best to pick this vegetable whilst it is young and tender. Don’t boil it as it goes mushy, rather use in a stir fry or grill it or lightly sauté in butter or olive oil or thinly sliced and eaten raw. A glut can be used to make chutney, soups, or even added to a cake mix.
Known as zucchini in the USA, Germany and Australia from the Italian word zucchina or simply squash or baby marrows in other parts of the world. The word courgette comes from France. Although considered a vegetable in the culinary sense, botanically it is actually a fruit.
My first encounter with courgettes was as a young au pair in Switzerland where I worked for an Anglo-Italian family. Courgette/zucchini is a key ingredient in ratatouille, and this was the first dish I ever made using them.
If you would like to join in with Garden Photography then please take a look at my Garden Photography Page. No complicated rules 🙂
- Create your own post and title it July: The Edible Garden
- Include a link to this page in your post so others can find it too
- Add the tag “GardenChallenge” so everyone can find the posts easily in the WP Reader
- Get your post in by the end of the month, as the new theme comes out on the first Sunday in August.
- Please visit the sites in the comments to see what others are posting.
Earth laughs in flowers 