Bumper vegetable crop

I've had rather a bumper vegetable harvest today. First off there's the massive courgette:

Huge Tondo di Piacenza courgette

Peeled huge Tondo di Piacenza courgette

Halved huge Tondo di Piacenza courgette

Apparently they're not as tender when they get that big, but the creamy courgette and bacon tagliatelle recipe my other half is cooking tonight called for grated courgette and we figured that being a bit firmer/tougher might actually be an advantage there and it seemed a shame to waste it.

Then there's the full-size cucumber I harvested for lunch.

Cucumber Chinese Slangen

Cucumber Chinese Slangen

Cucumber Chinese Slangen

It's really spiny. It even hurt my fingers when I was just carrying it – I assume that's also what kept it safe from my resident slugs and snails. So I decided to peel it before eating. It was deliciously coolly cucumbery and the perfect texture, which surprised me. A lot of what I grow in the garden turns out a bit tough (probably because I pick it too late or don't water it enough).

Cucumber Chinese Slangen peeled and sliced

What was a bit too tough was my kohlrabi. I let it get too big because I didn't need it until now (I should probably have started eating them earlier when they looked too small to me, or watered them more):

Purple kohlrabi - actually pale green on the inside

This is roughly the size you chop it to for a salad - although it could probably have been left a bit thicker if it had been less tough: