Organic Courgette: Ola Redonda

Description

Organic Courgette: Ola Redonda. Cucurbita pepo.

A beautifully tasty courgette, high yielding with daily cropping as late as October. Last year these came to True Harvest Seeds as Tondo Di Nizza, naturally grown on Debbie’s Farm. This year they come to you from De Bolster Organics. A good compact bushy habit with lots of large green leaves.

How to grow:
Under protection: Sow seeds in April in modules, transplant out in May once danger of frost has passed.
Outside production: Sow seeds in May, transplant into final position May/June.
Keep well watered. Harvest continually when the fruits are about the size of a cricket ball, fruits can be stored for 4 – 5 weeks in a cool dry place.
You can leave them to grow on and get marrows, but this does tend to slow or stop production of small fruits.

Problem solving:
Keep slugs off when young. Watering from underneath will help keep mildew off the leaves.

Favourite ways to eat them:
For the beautifully shaped round courgettes, hollow out, fry onions, other veg you love plus the courgette inners, with rice, stuff back into the skin and bake in the oven, melt cheese on the top if you like cheese, we wait all winter for this taste again. This courgette is also amazing eaten raw; chopped or grated into salads. Can also use them in the usual way, diced in risotto, but equally good in currys, pasta, you name it. The flowers stuffed are a delicacy.

Cultural history:
Supposed to be one of the oldest cultivated vegetables around, originally from Mexico.

Avg contents:  15 seeds.