sorry another courgette question

[murphy99]

where do i cut when harvesting the courgette, do I cut near the courgette leaving the stem on the plant or near the plant and remove the stem afterwards... am I being clear?

also do I have to wait foe the flower to die before I can eat the courgette... cut one off by accident and don't want to waste it if I can throw it in with the rest

And finally ... the flowers. which ones are edible, is it the ones that have the courgette? can I cut the off while the courgette is still growing and will I still get a courgette?

As you can tell, I have amanged to grow something and now am stuck with how and what to harvest without hurting the plant or poisoning us

Thanks for any help and I am sorry again, I am sure you are all sick of these questions.. next year I promise I will take my turn and answer them when another me comes along

[FionaH]

Murphy Don't apologise for asking questions! Someone experienced will be along soon then we will both know where to cut the courgettes off! I was wondering the same things

[indigox]

I just cut about half way along the stem between the courgette and the plant. It's not usually a very long stem, so be careful not to damage the plant.
Then I chop the extra bit of stem off when I am preparing them for cooking.
All the flowers are edible, but usually the male ones are eaten, and the females left on to form courgettes. The flowers on the females will wither up and fall off after a few days, or if they don't come off you can give them a little twist to remove.
You can eat them as tiny as you like, the little ones are very tender and tasty.

[taff]

No, you don't have to wait for the flower to die before you eat the courgette

[HeyWayne]

Just did a quick google search for "courgette" and images and there are plenty which show you the courgette complete, with stalk.

Here's a good example:



Personally I'm a way off needing to worry about cutting - I only planted mine out last night!!

[murphy99]

Thats good because we ate it last night

thanks for the responses , I had a little panic when harvesting my very first courgettes

I didn't want to destroy my work so far having grown them from seed and most importantly poisoning us! .... if I did what would I do with all the other things I had grown having killed everyone off with my first offering

by the way they were great, I am finding that as the days go by more of what we are eating has been produced by me! All I need now is a few chickens and a buffalo and we would be set for the summer

[mrs_b]

Courgettes

Mine are growing really well now. I just wondered how big they need to be before they are ready to harvest and what i need to do to them. Do i need to cut it close to the stem? And what happens with the flower do i cut it off.

Thanks all.

[zazen999]

Mrs b - I've merged your thread as the exact same question was asked 2 days ago.

[mrs_b]

oops sorry - i only checked the first and 2nd page and didn't see this - thanks tho answer all my questions

[Pies]

I just give mine a twist,they cpme off ok

[danmon_81]

Hugh fernley whittingstalls rule is if they're as big as his largest finger they can come off......dont leave them on too long they get stringy.....you'll get lots of each plant just see which size you prefer....vut them as in the picture above....
Eat the flowers....stuffed with cheese, tempur batter...deep fried...mmmmmmm

[teakdesk]

Eat the flowers....stuffed with cheese, tempur batter...deep fried...mmmmmmm

... or raw

[danmon_81]

yep....you make a nice flower salad....borage...nastersiums....

[COMPOST CORNER]

I fry the courgettes with garlic, until very very soft, stuff the flower with that, dip in batter and deep fry. First series of River cottage I think.

[PaulG]

We were given some courgettes by my mil and i have no idea on the variety (except they are an outdoor one), never even seen courgettes growing before.

After reading that the flowers can be eaten i had thought about it (the flowers were still buds when i read it) but now they have opened i am not sure i want to pull them off, i love that brilliant orange colour and because they are so big i can see them from the kitchen window and they brighten the garden up. Even better are the ones where two courgettes have formed almost like siamese twins, two big orange flowers at a time.