Cucurbita pepo 'All Green Bush' is a Half-Hardy Annual and one of the most widely grown courgette varieties in the British kitchen garden — an open-pollinated bush-type courgette selected for its compact habit, reliable productivity, and excellent fruit quality across a wide range of growing conditions. It is both simpler and more adaptable than many F1 hybrid courgettes, performing well in average conditions without the additional inputs that some higher-performance varieties require.

Bush versus Trailing Habit: Courgette varieties divide broadly into two growth habits — bush types, which form a compact, upright plant with short internodes that stays within a defined space, and trailing or semi-trailing types, which produce long vines that spread across considerable distances. 'All Green Bush' is a genuine bush type, staying broadly within a 60–90cm spread rather than running metres across the bed. This compactness makes it the most practical courgette for average kitchen garden plots, containers, and raised beds where space is at a premium.

The Courgette-to-Marrow Continuum: Courgettes and marrows are botanically the same plant — Cucurbita pepo — and the distinction is purely one of harvest timing. A courgette left unpicked continues to grow into a marrow, and in warm weather this can happen very quickly — a fruit that is 15cm and perfect on Monday can be 40cm and hollow-cored by Friday. The practical implication is that courgettes must be checked and picked every two to three days at peak season, and any fruit that escapes notice and grows large should be removed immediately, as a plant carrying a large marrow significantly reduces its production of new courgettes. Regular picking is not optional — it is the mechanism by which the plant keeps producing.

'All Green Bush' alongside 'Zucchini': The Bishy Barnabee's courgette range offers two complementary varieties. 'Zucchini' is the Italian-type courgette — slightly more slender, with a glossy, mid-green skin and a flavour particularly associated with Mediterranean cooking. 'All Green Bush' is the classic British kitchen garden variety — darker, slightly more robust, and the most reliably productive of the two in variable British summer conditions. Growing both provides a complete courgette harvest with slight variation in fruit character and some insurance against any variety performing less well in a particular season.

Courgettes are one of the most rewarding vegetables to grow from seed — fast-germinating, fast-growing, and producing a visible harvest within weeks of planting out. The main requirements are warmth, space, consistent moisture, and regular picking.

How to Sow:
Sow indoors from late April to May — courgettes are frost-tender and there is little benefit to sowing very early, as plants cannot go outside until after the last frost and large plants transplant less successfully than smaller ones. Sow seeds individually in 7–9cm pots, one seed per pot on its side approximately 2cm deep — sowing on the side rather than flat reduces the risk of the seed rotting at the tip. Maintain a temperature of 18–22°C. Germination is rapid, typically within 5–7 days. Grow on in a warm, bright position — courgette seedlings grow fast and need good light to prevent them becoming drawn and leggy.

Transplanting:
Plant out from late May to early June after a thorough hardening-off period of at least ten days. Courgettes are very frost-sensitive — a single hard frost will kill a plant outright. Space plants 90cm apart in well-prepared, fertile soil enriched with plenty of well-rotted compost or manure. Courgettes are hungry, thirsty plants and the more organic matter in the soil, the better they perform. Planting through a black plastic or cardboard mulch suppresses weeds, retains moisture, and warms the soil — all of which improve performance significantly.

Pollination:
Courgettes produce separate male and female flowers on the same plant — male flowers appear first and have a plain stem; female flowers follow and have a tiny immature fruit at the base. Both need to be open simultaneously for pollination to occur, which is achieved by bees visiting both. In a poor summer with low bee activity, or early in the season before the female flowers appear, fruit may fail to set — this is normal and resolves as the season progresses and more flowers open simultaneously. If pollination appears to be failing, transfer pollen from a male flower to a female flower using a small paintbrush or by removing the male flower and touching its centre to the female flower's centre directly.

Feeding and Watering:
Water generously and consistently — courgettes have large leaves that transpire heavily in warm weather, and water stress causes bitterness in the fruits and reduces yields significantly. Water at the base of the plant rather than overhead to reduce the risk of powdery mildew. Once the first fruits have set, feed weekly with a high-potassium liquid fertiliser to support continued fruiting.

Harvesting:
Pick fruits at 15–20cm for the best flavour and texture — small courgettes are sweeter, more tender, and have a thinner skin than larger ones. Check plants every two to three days at peak season and remove any fruits that have escaped notice before they become marrows. Regular picking is the single most important factor in maintaining a continuous, productive harvest.

Courgettes benefit from companions that attract pollinators — essential for fruit set — and deter the aphids and whitefly that can affect the large, soft foliage:

• 🌼 Calendula 'Art Shades Mixed': The Aphid Trap. Calendula is the most broadly useful companion for courgettes — its sticky stems trap aphids and whitefly before they establish on the soft courgette foliage, its scent deters a range of pest insects, and its open flowers attract hoverflies in large numbers, whose larvae consume aphid colonies with remarkable efficiency. Planted at the base of or around courgette plants, it creates a living pest barrier at ground level that protects the crop through the most pest-active months of summer. The warm amber and apricot tones of Art Shades Mixed make a visually pleasing combination with the large, bright yellow courgette flowers and the deep green fruits.
• 🌟 Borage: The Pollination Booster. Courgette fruit set depends entirely on bees transferring pollen from male to female flowers, and Borage is the single best plant in the range for drawing bees into the immediate vicinity of the courgette plant. As one of the highest nectar-producing plants in the British garden, Borage sustains bumblebees and honeybees in dense numbers throughout summer — and bees visiting Borage flowers planted alongside the courgette will naturally visit the courgette flowers at the same time, dramatically improving pollination rates and fruit set. In a summer with low bee activity, the presence of Borage alongside the courgette can be the difference between a productive plant and a frustrating one.
• 🌿 Basil Classic Italian: The Aromatic Companion. Basil is a traditional companion for all cucurbits — its aromatic volatile oils deter aphids, thrips, and whitefly from the soft foliage of the courgette plant, and its low, bushy habit fills the bare soil around the base of the courgette without competing for light. Practically, growing basil alongside courgette also means that the two finest summer vegetable ingredients for a simple, quickly cooked supper are always harvested together from the same patch — sliced courgette and torn basil with olive oil, lemon, and good cheese is one of the most effortless and most satisfying things the summer kitchen garden produces, requiring almost no cooking and almost no preparation.
• 🌻 Courgette 'Zucchini': The Complete Courgette Pairing. Growing 'All Green Bush' alongside 'Zucchini' is the simplest way to extend and diversify the courgette harvest — the classic dark green fruits of 'All Green Bush' alongside the slightly more slender, mid-green Italian-type fruits of 'Zucchini', both harvested through the same July-to-October season but offering slight variation in fruit character, flavour, and culinary application. Both varieties attract the same pollinators and benefit from the same companions, and growing two plants of different varieties rather than two of the same provides some insurance against any one variety performing less well in a particular season's conditions.

Sow indoors from late April in individual pots and plant out after the last frost — courgettes establish quickly and begin producing their first dark green fruits within weeks of planting, continuing abundantly right through to the first October frosts.