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Fruit Shaping

Hi and welcome to the latest updates from our very special market garden, at Canara Farm, Mylor. Today Farmer Pete will be taking a closer look at the cucumbers and courgettes growing and the fruit moulding process.

'' At the top of the poly tunnel we've got our main crop cucumber and green courgettes. The cucumbers here are lucciola, a main crop full length cucumber and we have a precioza F1 green variety courgette. We put these in the poly tunnel for early cropping and protection for the fruit moulding process. I like to call them Stargettes and Heartcumbers. ''

'' At the top of the poly tunnel we've got our main crop cucumber and green courgettes. The cucumbers here are lucciola, a main crop full length cucumber and we have a precioza F1 green variety courgette. We put these in the poly tunnel for early cropping and protection for the fruit moulding process. I like to call them Stargettes and Heartcumbers. ''

'' You wouldn't want the plants catching any wind so if you try this at home my suggestion is to have them in a very sheltered place. You need to put the fruit moulds on at an early stage and the stems will be quite week. Check them at least once a day, twice if possible. There will be a point when the fruit fills the mould and are absolutely perfect and then 12 hours after that they can be pushing hard agaisnt the mould. There's a very narrow window of time to get it right. ''

'' Its always a bit of a gamble because you don't know if the fruit will split but its good fun. You know you've got it right when you look down the fruit and you can see the shape. You can really smell how fresh they are when you start to cut into them. Once you’ve tried a soil grown cucumber there’s no going back. Completely different from a shop bought cucumber. Sweet and full of flavour. ''

We hope you have enjoyed reading about the cucumbers and courgettes growing at the farm, and we look forward to sharing more with you. We now have some great produce available to buy including mixed cherry tomatoes and mixed french beans. See you soon!

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