Thursday 1 September 2011

What a whopper

I've never grown marrows before, but last year, after finding some overgrown courgettes which I'd missed when picking, I decided I'd use them to make stuffed marrow. It was a hit with hubby so I decided to grow the real thing this year. This is the first one we've had off the plant and we haven't used it yet. I've heard that it does taste different to courgette so I'm just hoping that we like it.

I've been reading of courgette gluts on many blogs but my plants haven't really got going this year. They're just starting to produce a decent amount now so perhaps the glut is to come. The Firenze courgettes which I grew in containers have given up the ghost, they've been a washout producing a few tiny courgettes before giving in. I've got yellow and green varieties at the allotment and both are now producing well.

It's always at this time of year that my thoughts turn to next year. Already I'm weighing up what's done well and what hasn't and what I'll grow again next year and what I won't. My mum and dad are moving in a fortnight and we're inheriting their freezer, so one thing I definitely want to do next year is grow more things to freeze. I already freeze some things, but even though we've got one of those American style fridge/freezers, there isn't enough space to freeze much. The new freezer, even though it's only small, will give us extra space to store gluts for winter use. It'll be nice to be eating from the allotment right the way through winter.

19 comments:

  1. My Marrow plant only produced one fruit this year :(
    We had a bought marrow for dinner yesterday, stuffed with boiled eggs and French beans in home-made tomato sauce. Lovely!

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  2. We've had a good courgette year this year, but last year not a single plant survived or gave us fruit so we were due a good one I think.

    Enjoy, they usually cook up well stuffed. Other marrows here would be used in chutneys - I have one awaiting my attention.

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  3. I have never grown proper marrows as I remember them watery tasteless things stuffed with mince. Yuk. But now with more sophisticated cooking ideas, may well try stuffing my overgrown courgettes with something exotic. don't know what yet.

    After a good start my courgettes have dwindled too, lack of water I think.

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  4. I've never grown marrows, but did let a couple of courgettes grow on last year.
    I've started thinking about next year as well! Flighty xx

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  5. Hello, Thanks for your comments on my blog. Like you I tried some Italian varieties that just sulked until I gave up and pulled them out. But the more common varieties did really well. It seems to make a huge difference if the bed has loads of garden compost added I find.

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  6. We have several freezers too - never seem to have too many!

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  7. Hi Jo,
    I have never grown marrows either but occasionally have them when eating out, stuffed marrows are sometimes on the veggie menu and are always good but I haven't tried using it at home.
    We never seem to have enough freezer space either.

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  8. I don't have the space to grow marrows when we had our allotment we grew them. I grew corgetts in a in containers this year a real flop! 3 corgettes and it curled up and withered I have had a real bad year for veggies this year.Hope you enjoy your Marrow.

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  9. Oh I do love marrows. Yours look great! My mum and dad are always bringing over their homegrown corgettes as they have too many to eat themselves... maybe one day I will grow my own... that would be nice :)

    Louise xx

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  10. Hi

    What is your recipe for stuffed marrow please?

    Donna

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  11. That was a fabulous marrow! I just love to be able to grow my own veg. My Granny used to do this and the freezer was always full of veg and fruit right through the winter. Glad to have found your blog, Catherine.

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  12. I have never grown a marrow either Jo but have occasionally bought them in the past. Yours looks like a happy and healthy specimen. Here it has been a good courgette year for two of my plants but not for the other two. Just as well as we have only just been able to keep up with production :) Hope that you have enjoyed the last few days of the summer holidays.

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  13. I love stuffed marrow! Always a favourite here.

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  14. Your marrow stuffing sounds wonderful, Mark. My plant has produced two marrows so far.

    It's unusual to be left without courgettes, Dawn. It's usually the opposite way round, too many to know what to do with. Glad you're having a good year.

    I stuff my marrows with mince, Elaine. I really enjoy eating them this way.

    It's exciting thinking about a new year, Flighty. I'm making plans already.

    Thank you for visiting, Serendipity. Courgettes like plenty of water so the compost will have locked the moisture in to the soil. Things have suffered this year due to lack of water.

    I'm hoping to get the new freezer stocked up for winter, Sue. I'm looking forward to eating more of my home grown veggies when there isn't much growing.

    Marrows have been really easy to grow, Bluebell. No different to courgettes really, though the plants are quite sprawling so you need to allocate quite a bit of space to them.

    Thanks for visiting, Sueb. Marrows do take up quite a bit of space, not a plant for a small garden. Sorry to hear about your courgettes. I've grown courgettes in containers successfully previously, but I used a standard variety rather than a variety especially for containers, it seemed to make a difference.

    You really should start growing some of your own veggies, Louise, I'm sure the boys would love it. It's nice that your mum and dad have some surplus to share.

    Thanks for visiting, Donna. I don't follow a recipe for stuffed courgette, I just stuff with mince and tomatoes and anything else to hand, then sprinkle some feta cheese on top.

    Thank you for popping by, Catherine. It'll be great this winter now that I've got some extra freezer space, I can't wait to get it filled up.

    I always plant more courgette plants than I need, Anna. It sounds as though it's paid off in your case. It's back to school tomorrow so we've been enjoying the last few days.

    Hubby and I like stuffed marrow, but the kids won't eat it, Tempewytch. Such a shame.

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  15. I'm guilty of a courgette glut, although I can't remember if I've written about it or not! I grew some fancy-pants seeds from Jamie Oliver - Striata d'italia - which worked really well, but I did mix in lots of horse muck before the plants went in. I've had to give the excess away as my fridge freezer pre-dates my serious veg growing and isn't big enough to freeze much. What luck that you can have one from your parents! I wish them luck for their move; always a stressful time. Caro x

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  16. I have to ask. What's the difference between a courgette and a marrow? In the US we kind of lump long summer squashes into the generic category of zucchini. Of course, we've got crook neck squashes and patty pan squashes, just to confuse matters.

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  17. Thanks for the good luck wishes for my mum and dad, Caro. Courgettes love plenty of muck adding to their bed, they're obviously very happy plants and are rewarding you well. It's a pain when you don't have enough freezer space and have to give surplus away, though I bet your friends are very grateful. I take a lot of pleasure in sharing my produce.

    Thanks for visiting, Lisa and Robb. Although marrows and courgettes are from the same family, I think marrows have a thicker skin. Marrows are bred to taste better when grown to full size and courgettes taste better when picked small. That's how I understand it anyway.

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  18. I have grown marrows for a few years now....not much success this year but I will tell all about that in a later post. I have just cut one off that got away which is getting on for two foot long. That will feed us for a while!! :-)

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  19. It's amazing how big the things can grow if you let them get on with it, Tanya. Sorry to hear that your marrows weren't a success this year.

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