At the end of March, I tried to source some fresh courgette seeds (American: zucchini). All garden centres were in lockdown and in the supermarkets I managed to visit all packets of vegetable seeds had been sold. Fortunately I had two old packets with a few remaining seeds inside from previous years.
Both packs were still "in date" so theoretically germination should have been assured. After ten days nothing had stirred in my first batch. I left six little plant pots by a sunny upstairs window. In normal years the natural process would have taken place within a week or so but not this time.
I abandoned the first batch and tried a second with seeds from a different packet. Ten days later nothing had stirred. Not one little green shoot.
Nine days ago after D.I.Y. stores had been allowed to re-open I managed to locate fresh courgette seeds in the "Homebase" branch on Chesterfield Road. I decided to buy the most expensive "hybrid" seeds. I swear these were the most expensive seeds I have ever bought at around 35 pence each! Quite incredible really.
However, last Saturday I noticed that one of the fresh seeds was stirring in its plant pot. And by yesterday all six seeds had germinated nicely. As some chilly nights have been predicted this month, my third batch of courgette seeds should not be too late. By the end of this month I hope and expect I'll have six sturdy seedlings to plant out.
Courgettes have always been successful in our garden. I have been growing them for the past thirty years. This year, for the first time, I plan to harvest and dry dozens of courgette seeds after allowing one of the late fruits to turn into a marrow. Can life get any more exciting than that?
I bought a fresh pineapple the other day mostly because I wanted to cut off the top and plant it. These days, growing things is emotionally important. And that's not a bad thing, is it?
ReplyDeleteIt's always magical to watch plants growing - especially when you have nutured them from seeds... or pineapple tops!
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DeleteThe part of gardening I like is to see the development of the plants. So yes ,it is good!
ReplyDeleteLike watching our children grow.
DeleteActually, I think that starting seeds IS exciting. :) Sometimes older seeds take longer to germinate. I once got some 12 year old tomato seeds to do it but it took over a month and I was about ready to throw out the trays!
ReplyDeleteLast night I noticed that one of the second batch had finally stirred! Lazy thing!
DeleteThose seedlings look very healthy Farmer Pudding! Good job!
ReplyDeleteNot Farmer Pudding, Magician Pudding!
DeleteMay you reap what you sow, YP. Come to think of it what did the GRIM reaper ever sow? In whose service does he reap? Anyway, before I go all Plato and Camus rolled into one on you, here is a cherished memory of mine; a conundrum I haven't solved to this day.
ReplyDeleteSo there you are, with hope in your heart, seeds in the soil. AH, that most exciting state to be in: Anticipation. So far so satisfying.
At what point do seeds actually burst into life? The first time I tried to answer this question was when I was very young. I'd sit there waiting forever for the seedling to come through. Nada. Nothing. Next morning? Well, missed the moment, didn't I? Many years later, never having killed off my inner child, I thought I'd try again. You can watch a patch of soil with a seed in it for hours (I did - I was pregnant at the time) - nada, nothing, other than contemplating the wonders of life. The moment you turn your back? For a minute? Bingo. There it is. So, yes, upshot being that I'll go to my grave (give it another thirty years or so) and, god damn it, I will never ever have seen a plant actually move as it grows. Wonder if Jack fared better with his beanstalk.
U
You need a little camera Ursula. Then you can speed up the footage and watch your beanstalk as it appears. I guess there are YouTube videos like this.
DeleteYes, I know. I am not an idiot. I was talking what I can see with MY little eye in real time, not technology assisted. Never mind. Poetry of life is lost on many.
DeleteU
Oops! I have made what I think they call a "faux pas". Unlike you I must be an idiot.
Delete"If the Marrow never comes". If Ronan Keating grew Zucchinis.
ReplyDelete"When The Marrow Comes" by The Eurhythmics.
Delete"Will You Love Me The Marrow?" by The Shirelles.
Delete"The Marrow Never Dies" by James Bond.
DeleteLike Jennifer has said, I think starting a plant from seed (and mostly all gardening) IS exciting! This coming from a complete no-gardener (not having a garden is my excuse).
ReplyDeleteAll the best to your baby plants! One of O.K.'s birthday presents (not from me) were 3 pots of baby tomato plants, grown from seed and about 20 cm high. We have been nursing them, taking them outside every day and putting them back indoors every night, for more than a week, and they are growing by the minute. As they are three different kinds (Black Christine, Zucchero and Sugar Pea), I am really looking forward to tasting them.
You chose some odd names for your little red babies. Why didn't you give them traditional German names like Helmut, Greta and Jakob?
DeleteI like the fact that courgettes are so easy to grow (providing the seeds are still viable!) and they usually give a good crop. I am going to suggest your tip to my Head Gardener - to save some seeds from our current crop and plant them out next year.
ReplyDeleteYou had better tell Lord Peregrine that too. You know how particular he can be.
DeleteI had to buy a couple of plants, one of which has got eaten by a slug. But not being competitive the other plant already has baby courgettes on it. Lugging the tomato plants in every night in their heavy pots though is no joy.
ReplyDeleteHave you not got a greenhouse Thelma? That's where my wife raises her tomatoes. If you plan to stay in that house you should seriously consider investing in a small greenhouse... in my humble opinion.
DeleteI don't plan to stay in the house, but to see the roses bloom this year. The decision has been taken out of my hands anyway with the virus.
DeleteI don't get it. How has the virus affected your choices?
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DeleteYou must really really like courgettes!! I get given a couple occasionally from next door and quite like them sliced and fried in butter, and salted , but never done anything else with them.OH says he doesn't like them anyway.
ReplyDeleteCourgettes are pretty bland so I do not understand why anybody could dislike them Frances. There are plenty of things you can do with courgettes but I like to slice them, season them, coat them in oil and bake them in the oven - turning once. You can also "spiralise" them and mix in with spaghetti. I have been known to stuff larger courgettes in the Greek way before roasting.
DeleteOnce they get going you'll have enough for the whole neighbourhood.
ReplyDeleteBriony
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I do like to give some away - that's true enough.
DeleteI love courgettes and stuffed marrow too. If and when I get a polycrub then that's the first thing I'll grow. Until then I just have to make do with the Co-op's.
ReplyDeleteA polytunnel at Eagleton would require expert anchoring or it would soon become a U.F.O..
DeletePlenty of people have polytunnels and plenty lose them in the occasional hurricanes. However the new polycarbonate Polycrubs and similar were developed in Shetland and 130mph is ok for them. They are growing on the Island like wildfire.
DeleteOr like courgettes?
DeleteSeeds from hybrids don't grow true to type and can be unfertile, so it's not a good idea to save and try to regrow. Did it once with some tomatoes and they grew but never flowered. I've got hybrid courgette seeds. This is the second year from the packet and there are still enough for another 2 years. Johnsons Astia F1. Some Johnsons are very fecund.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the warning Percy Dunham. I will keep your remark in mind for next year.Mine are Mr Fothergill's Firenze F1. Mr Fothergill looks like a friendly chap. To check out your advice I found an advisory website that said "One key thing before you start - you can't save seed from F1 (hybrid) varieties." So you are indeed right sir! Double thanks.
DeleteI doubt even that many readers of your blog will understand the use of the name Percy in that response. Or was it just a thrower way remark?
DeleteHa-ha! You are right. That dates you!
DeleteAnd me!
DeleteI once saw Pery Thrower at Southport Flower Show.
DeleteWas Pery related to Percy?
DeleteBloody glasses.
DeleteI've never understood why a small one is a courgette (or zucchini) but a big one is a marrow. It's the only vegetable I can think of where the name changes when it reaches a certain size!
ReplyDeleteWhat about a potato? When sliced into fingers and fried it become a chip or (in America) a french fry.
DeleteSteve is right, YP's irrelevant comeback notwithstanding :)
DeleteDown here in the still warm south we have only just removed the last courgette plant in our Autumn tidy up. Only 2 plants this year but they produced steadily for 4 months and must be the most versatile vegetable you can grow. Steamed, baked, fresh, grated into fritters or a chocolate cake and superb in a pickle to add spice to cheese toasties or cold meat. We love them. Next year I'm going to grow them vertically like a tomato plant on a supporting frame. Just wish I could train my other half to only water their roots, never the leaves. Garden centres reopen tomorrow as we move to cautious freedom and I'm hoping to get some bulbs for the Spring garden. Gardening = hope for the future.
ReplyDeleteOur garden centres (with social distancing) opened for the first time today. We have (officially) 33,186 COVID dead compared with New Zealand's 21!
DeleteThat's what makes it hard to understand why some people here, encouraged by the leader of the Opposition party, have criticised our PM for putting the country in lockdown for 6 weeks. Our hospital and health care workers are hugely grateful that they have avoided the UK's enormous battle as are all their families, mine included. Some of those 21 deaths could have been avoided if people had followed the social distancing warnings.
DeleteLiving in a remote corner of the globe has advantages. Over here Jacinda Ardern is greatly admired. Could we swap PM's?
DeleteSorry, most of us know a good thing when we see one. She's our great hope for a fairer deal for all, especially those poorly paid essential workers who've kept the place ticking over. Cometh the woman, cometh the hour.
DeleteI thought I had left a comment but I guess I didn't hit publish. Oh dear, senility must be setting in already.
ReplyDeleteZucchinis grow so well here that it becomes a joke in the fall, how to escape people giving zucchinis away. One plant is usually enough for a garden. I've never grown them myself, maybe I should try. My radishes have done well and the spinach is coming up too. Still waiting on my beans, carrots and nasturtiums. We have such long days that it makes up for the very short growing season.
Stay safe my friend.
That happens to me sometimes. You think you have posted a comment and then it disappears. Mind you some of my more mischievous comments get censored by puritanical bloggers. It is always annoying when that happens. Bally prudes!
DeleteI planted zucchini last year in my deck garden, thinking surely they would grow if nothing else did. They grew fine but developed a white powdery mildew on the leaves, which then died. I tried some advice on the internet (milky water on the leaves every other day) and it helped but not enough. Only a few blossoms set fruit and those poor little beggers shrivelled up before they reached two inches long. How can someone not be able to grow zucchini??
ReplyDeleteMy peas, on the other hand, did very well on the deck :)
I think the condition your courgette plants had was called mosaic virus - but I am no expert.
DeleteIt looked like photos of powdery mildew and fit the description. I've just seen another home remedy I will keep in mind for this year - baking soda in water, sprayed on the leaves. I was probably overwatering, too, which I will remedy. And watering at the wrong time of day, which led to damp conditions. See why I called my thumb black on Monday's post?
DeleteYour sprouts look very healthy.
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