http://www.celiabrooksbrown.com/blog/?p=8 Everything I do is about inspiring people to appreciate good food Fri, 24 May 2013 22:28:56 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7 hourly 1 http://www.celiabrooksbrown.com/blog/?p=8#comment-625 Dan Sat, 18 Jul 2009 11:23:56 +0000 http://www.celiabrooksbrown.com/blog/?p=8#comment-625 Just picked a load of Dean Farm pumpkin leaves (a crowd control job) and looking forward to chowing down later! Just picked a load of Dean Farm pumpkin leaves (a crowd control job) and looking forward to chowing down later!

]]> http://www.celiabrooksbrown.com/blog/?p=8#comment-4 Celia Sat, 29 Nov 2008 11:41:52 +0000 http://www.celiabrooksbrown.com/blog/?p=8#comment-4 Hi Simon. Remember, the courgettes taste best when they are small, and the more you pick, the more the plant produces. If you let them get big, the plant invests all its energy into fattening up the fruits and less on producing new ones. We probably got about 70 or 80 courgettes out of our two plants this season. But I never tired of eating them--they are succulent and sweet when freshly picked and about 3 or 4 inches long. Occasionally one would get away and turn into a baseball bat--those are great for soups and chutney. We started eating the leaves when the plants were fully mature and producing fruit. Obviously we didn't strip the plant completely; we left the mature leaves (too tough to eat) and ate the new young leaves which kept on appearing around the fruits through the season. Hi Simon. Remember, the courgettes taste best when they are small, and the more you pick, the more the plant produces. If you let them get big, the plant invests all its energy into fattening up the fruits and less on producing new ones. We probably got about 70 or 80 courgettes out of our two plants this season. But I never tired of eating them–they are succulent and sweet when freshly picked and about 3 or 4 inches long. Occasionally one would get away and turn into a baseball bat–those are great for soups and chutney.
We started eating the leaves when the plants were fully mature and producing fruit. Obviously we didn't strip the plant completely; we left the mature leaves (too tough to eat) and ate the new young leaves which kept on appearing around the fruits through the season.

]]> http://www.celiabrooksbrown.com/blog/?p=8#comment-3 Simon Wed, 26 Nov 2008 12:24:52 +0000 http://www.celiabrooksbrown.com/blog/?p=8#comment-3 Does eating the leaves not affect the devlopment of the fruit? I rather assumed the leaves were required for the growth of the courgettes themselves. Do you leave some leaves to develop? My wife and I only grew our first courgette this season and was surprised at how massive it grew. We managed to get about 8 large courgettes out of it before the weather got too bad. Does eating the leaves not affect the devlopment of the fruit? I rather assumed the leaves were required for the growth of the courgettes themselves. Do you leave some leaves to develop? My wife and I only grew our first courgette this season and was surprised at how massive it grew. We managed to get about 8 large courgettes out of it before the weather got too bad.

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