Courgette Glut Coming On

Thursday was a very pleasant summer’s day with some sunny spells after a little rain overnight. It only amounted to 0.4mm which wasn’t enough to benefit the garden or plot. 

Our weed control fabric experiment extended to our courgette bed this year. Our pot raised courgette plants were planted through crosses cut in the fabric. I admit to being a little worried as to whether the plants would grow well enough restricted to just this cut ‘hole’.

This was how the plants looked after planting out on 13-06-2013. The rather un-rotted manure was there just to stop the fabric in place and prevent any damage around the base of the plants from the fabric moving about in windy conditions.

For a few weeks the courgettes didn't make any progress and I thought our experiment might reduce not only the weeds but our courgette crop too. By early July the plants were starting to look a bit more at home and the leaves were starting to take on a much darker green and looking much healthier.

Now the plants have put on lots of growth and are looking very healthy. Looking at the bed you wouldn't know that they're planted through those little crosses in weed control fabric.

And as for the glut - bring it on. Thursday’s cutting produced 30 courgettes weighing in at 9.5kg. As this bed hasn't required any weeding I think it’s turned out a success. 

Copyright: Original post from A Gardener's Weather Diary http://ossettweather.blogspot.co.uk/ author M Garrett