Zucchini Safari F1 - Cucurbita pepo

The Safari F1 Courgette is a truly unique English variety that produces dark green fruits with lighter stripes. Curious and fun, this courgette is also productive and tasty. 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... Squashes 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, potimarrons, pumpkins, etc. 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 their seeds.

All of them are native to 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 the help of their tendrils. Female flowers can be distinguished from male flowers by their inferior ovary (under the flower), resembling an embryo of fruit. In many areas, 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, particularly 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 "F1 hybrid" 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 flavourful and/or early while being resistant to certain diseases. Sometimes criticised or wrongly associated with GMOs, F1 hybrid seeds are interesting both for their uniformity and their resistance, but unfortunately, their qualities do not pass on to the next 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, or cut into pieces and frozen for several months.

Gardener's tip: Don't forget the flowers! Even though the vegetable garden is primarily 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 precious pollinators. So, don't hesitate to plant Gaillardias, Marigolds, Zinnias, Cosmos, Nasturtiums, or even beautiful herbs like Dill, right in the middle of the rows or along the edge of the bed. However, be cautious of certain plants, even though they are useful, such as Borage, which tends to self-seed abundantly.