Hello everyone, I hope I find you well, today we have an interesting topic and its about growing a squash called baby marrow. This plant is so wonderful as it bears a lot of fruits within a short space of time.
Yes ,I know you would love to pick up your fresh marrows straight from the garden but you have a confined space. Baby marrows need spaces about 150cm apart, imagine, it means it is going to take much of your space,
Do not worry about that today in this lesson we are going to learn how we can grow it organically at the same time maximising the little space that we have,
Come on guys let’s get in our garden.
Take your measuring tape , well aged chicken or goat manure, a hoe and a watering cane.
We only want to plant five zucchini plant, they are enough for a family of four, mark your area , we need 80cm between each row and between each plant 40cm. Dig your holes about 30cm deep, take one part of soil and add two parts of organic manure. Mix well and deposit the mixture in each hole up until it is 90% full.
Plant your health baby marrow organic seed in each hole but this must only be 2cm dip. Water thoroughly using the watering can. Do this as required up until the marrows germinate.
NB. Marrows are the easiest squashes to grow and they grow vigorously if they are well fed. Expect the first harvest in less than 2months. As the plant is growing, it will have huge foliage and it’s not necessary because what we want are the fruits. So to have more fruits we will train our marrow to grow vertically instead of being a bush. Look for supporters e.g bamboo trees or anything straight that is available.
cut all the lower leaves and leave it with few leaves at the top. Tie your marrow to the supporting tree, in this case it will start to grow vertically as it is fruiting. This will allow you to walk through easily and quickly recognize the fruit that would have matured. This method saves space and you are able to grow more than double at a limited space.
The more you prune the plant ant support it, the more it grows and bears more fruits.
As the plant start bearing fruits, beware of fruit flies and blossom end rot. Next time we are going to address these issues using organic method of farming.
Now it’s harvest time.
May be you have never tasted it , I mean you do not know how to consume it.
Well ! That is not a problem because today you are going to learn one or two ways of eating marrows or zucchini.
The first method is to eat it raw like what people do to cucumbers, I like it that way. Another way is to stir fry it and add it in your plate as a side dish. I also like to it in my soup. Another way is to blend it into a smoothie and drink.
Baby marrows are packed with many nutrients like iron, potassium, magnesium, rich in fiber and it also rich in vitamin c.only to mention a few. This means that those who consume them raw will enjoy more healthy benefit than those who cook.
Because of their mineral content, they help fight, heart diseases, high blood pressure, and high sugar levels. Since it has high content of iron, it fights anemia. This shows that every house hold must have this vegetable in the garden.
Some of my clients come to me giving me testimonies of how they felt better after eating raw baby marrows.
Well by now , I hope you are saying I now want to start my seed, before you do that just know that they do well in open field when we are in summer and they love full sunlight. This means that if we are in winter like here in Zimbabwe, you can not grow it outside, you need to have a green house.
That’s it for today, my friends , continue enjoying healthy food, and make it a habit to produce your own veggies on that limited space.
Remember eating is a necessity but choosing the right food is an art.