Lesson 1: Preparing to Plant Courgettes

Fruity Customers
Strictly speaking, courgettes aren't vegetables at all. They're actually part of the plant's female fruit. But that doesn't stop them taking pride of place in your vegetable patch. Choose a spot that gets plenty of sunshine and is sheltered from the wind. Well-drained soil is also a must for courgettes.

Fertile Hole
Like all members of the squash family, courgettes relish a rich diet. Dig a 45cm-square hole to around a spade's depth. Fill the hole with well-rotted manure or garden compost and top with the soil you removed from the hole, to form a mound. Space your mounds 1 metre apart.

Warm Start
Cold weather is a real enemy of young courgette plants, so you need to make sure that there's no danger of frost when you plant them. One way of keeping Jack Frost at bay is to start your courgettes indoors. Five to six weeks before the intended planting date, sow courgette seeds in 8cm pots, 1cm deep in potting compost. Plant the seeds on edge to reduce the chance of rot. Place them in good light and keep the temperature between 15 and 18 degrees Centigrade.

Try These
Bush varieties are the easiest courgette plants to manage but trailing varieties are also available. "Defender" and "All Green Bush" are two reliable varieties that produce plenty of green fruit. Try "Burpees Golden" or "Gold Bush" if you're looking for a more exotic, yellow-skinned fruit.