Zucchini Defender F1 - Cucurbita pepo

The Courgette Defender F1 (in Latin, Cucurbita pepo) is a highly productive variety that produces many green, dense, and resistant fruits. Its open habit makes harvesting easy. This courgette has been awarded for its qualities by the prestigious Royal Horticultural Society: a safe bet! It can be sown under cover from April to May or directly in the ground from late May to late June for a harvest from July to October.

Orange, green, red, yellow, black, or even blue, smooth, ribbed, warty, with tender skin... Pumpkins and courgettes offer an astonishing variety of shapes, colours, and sizes because they hybridise with disconcerting ease. That's why there are so many varieties.

In common language, winter squashes refer to all kinds of pumpkins and butternut squashes with tough skin and delicately sweet flesh. Summer squashes or courgettes (in Latin, Cucurbita pepo) refer to the different varieties that are harvested when the skin is still tender. The latter are consumed with the seeds.

All of them originate from America and belong to the large family of cucurbits. They were introduced to Europe in the 16th century. Generally trailing, they also cling to any support with their tendrils. Female flowers can be distinguished from male flowers by their inferior ovary (under the flower), which is like an embryo of a fruit. In many regions, male flowers are harvested just after pollination to be eaten stuffed or in fritters.

In cooking, courgettes can be prepared in multiple ways: sautéed, fried, gratin, soups, or stuffed. They are essential ingredients in ratatouille, Maghrebi couscous, and many emblematic Mediterranean dishes. They are low in calories but rich in vitamins, especially provitamin A, vitamin B, and minerals.

Courgettes are vegetables that need regular watering to give their best. They love heat and sun and should not be planted in the garden before early June.

NB: This variety is labelled F1 for "hybrid F1" because it is a variety resulting from the cross-breeding of carefully selected parents to combine their qualities. This results in a variety that can be particularly tasty and/or early while being resistant to certain diseases. Sometimes criticised or wrongly associated with GMOs, F1 hybrid seeds are interesting both for their homogeneity and resistance, but unfortunately, their qualities do not pass on to subsequent generations: it will therefore not be possible to recover the seeds for later sowing.

Harvest: Courgettes are harvested young and fresh.

Storage: They can be stored for a few days at room temperature or in the bottom of the refrigerator and for several months when cut into pieces and frozen.

A gardener's tip: Don't forget the flowers! Even though the vegetable garden is primarily a garden for producing quality vegetables, it is always interesting to plant flowers. Firstly, for the aesthetic pleasure they provide, but also to repel pests and attract valuable pollinators. So, don't hesitate to plant Gaillardias, Marigolds, Zinnias, Cosmos, Nasturtiums, or even beautiful herbs like Dill in the middle of the rows or at the edge of the bed. However, be cautious with some plants, like Borage, which tends to self-seed abundantly.