BEHR Gemüsegarten: Products

Zucchini / Courgette

Zucchini, or courgettes, belong to the gourd (Cucurbitaceae) family, along with cucumbers, melons and pumpkins. They are descended from the giant pumpkin native to South America, Mexico and the West Indies.

Botanically speaking, zucchini are the fleshy berries of a fast-growing and frost-sensitive plant. The US name zucchini comes from the Italian word “zucca’ for pumpkin.

Zucchini come in different colours and shapes. We grow the green elongated zucchini, which are also the most well-known variety. There are also yellow, white and small round zucchini.

What they all have in common is the light, fleshy fruit flesh, which in the early harvest stage contains only tiny white seeds that can be eaten without hesitation. Zucchini can be eaten raw or cooked. The taste is slightly nutty when eaten raw. When zucchini are cooked or fried, they have a more neutral flavour and therefore go well with many different dishes.

Cultivation and harvesting

Our green zucchini are grown at our site in Büttelborn (southern Hesse). We set up bumblebee boxes in the fields and count on the help of these lovely insects to pollinate the zucchini flowers. Bumblebees carry the pollen from the male to the female flowers. This means that the fruit bud on the female flower can grow into a beautiful zucchini. If the female flower is not pollinated, the flower rots and the fruit base dies off.

Zucchini are heat-loving plants and are sensitive to frosts. They thrive in loose, humus-rich soils. During the growing season, they need a good supply of water and nutrients so that the plant can produce its delicious fruits.

Preparation and freshness tips

Zucchini are very easy to prepare. You should rinse them briefly in water and trim off both ends. Then you can cut the zucchini into cubes or slices of any size. Another big trend is the use of a spiralizer, which can be used to shape the zucchini into zucchini spaghetti, sometimes known as 'zoodles’.

Zucchini can be prepared in a variety of ways. You can steam them, roast them, grill them, use them in a casserole, make them into a delicious soup or, as mentioned above, make them into zoodles and cook them like pasta.

When buying zucchini, you should make sure that they are nicely plump and that their skin does not have any bruises or dents. Zucchini can be stored in the fridge for a few days. However, care should be taken not to store them near ethylene-releasing fruits such as apples, bananas or tomatoes, as these may make the zucchini spoil more quickly due to the ethylene produced.