Zucchini, or as the British call them – courgettes, is a summer squash. This is actually a fruit but we treat it as a vegetable. These plants originate in Italy but are grown across many part of the globe.
The seed is planted outside when all chance of frost has passed. They like rich and well watered soil and prefer full sun.
![zucchini seeds - info from craftygardener.ca](https://craftygardener.ca/wp-content/uploads/seed-zucchini1.jpg)
Healthy green leaves appear after a few days and get bigger rapidly.
![zucchini leaves beginning to grow](https://craftygardener.ca/wp-content/uploads/zucchini-leaves4a.jpg)
Soon the flower buds start appearing … lots of them.
![zucchini blossom beginning to form](https://craftygardener.ca/wp-content/uploads/zucchini-blossom5a.jpg)
Beautiful big yellow blossoms appear, but get your photos early, early in the morning as the fully open stage doesn’t last that long.
![zucchini blossom are big and yellowish orange](https://craftygardener.ca/wp-content/uploads/zucchini-blossom10a.jpg)
The male flower grows directly on the stem of the zucchini and the female flower is a golden blossom on the end of each new zucchini.
![a new zucchini forming](https://craftygardener.ca/wp-content/uploads/zucchini-1a.jpg)
Pick zucchini when they are about 20 cm (8 inches) long. At this size the seeds are still soft and immature. I’ll be picking zucchini soon.
Zucchini can be cooked in many ways … steamed, broiled, grilled, bbq’d, roasted, fried, and in baking. If you don’t have a favourite recipe you can find all sorts of them by going an internet search. A couple of my favourite ways are on the bbq and in a casserole.
ABC Wednesday letter of the week is Z. Z for zucchini.
![garden the gardener side at craftygardener.ca](https://craftygardener.ca/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/garden.gif)
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