Sowing the Seed
In early to mid May I will sow a couple of seeds for each variety in a pot of compost indoors. I will make a hole about 2cm below the surface with a pencil and drop the seeds in on their edge.

Planting Out
One all chances of frost are over they may be hardened of by putting them outside during warmer days and brought in on colder nights. Then they may be planted out into their final resting place, perhaps with the corn.


Companions
Courgettes are the same family as the squash which formed one of the Three Sisters planted by eastern inhabitants of America before the arrival of intruders from Europe. Their large leaves help to retain moisture in the soil for the other two sisters and crowd out the weeds. It is probably the best and most often quoted example of companion planting. I plant corn interspersed with the courgettes and cucumbers.

Harvesting
I try not to let them grow any bigger than 15cm long and pick them even smaller if I have a lot of them, the smaller the better as they taste beautiful but as they get bigger the taste gets lost. At best they can be sliced raw into a salad, and have a discernible flavour which surprises those used to the tasteless varieties available in the shops. Occasionally you miss one, often hiding away under the plant, and once spotted it is consigned to the compost heap. Some people seem to like marrows stuffed, but even a large courgette starts to lose its flavour so I must admit, perhaps arising from some horrific experiences as a child, I have not tried marrows myself in adult life.