Eggplants for our seed orders

[digitS']

Oh, I really enjoy eggplant . Of course, the potato bugs enjoy them too but - that's another story.

Having the opportunity to grow eggplant just seems like such a special thing. I even grow some that I hardly know what to do with in the kitchen. Having a nice fat eggplant to work with is a little difficult for me for the same reason that having ripe peppers is a little difficult -- the nights are cool and the growing season is fairly short. And, then there are those bugs but we weren't going to talk about them . . .

I could separate the varieties into "bells" and "non-bells" and I grow both. Or, they could be "purples" and "non-purples" and I especially appreciate the non-purples, I've gotta say. But, then we'd have to consider them as 4 catagories since there are representatives in each group.

Let me just say that I haven't enjoyed the purple non-bells in the kitchen but, see above, the greens have been just fine. Green Beauty and Thai Long Green have been successes in my garden!

As far as the bells go, I dare not even try some varieties. They just won't have enough time to do well. The wonderful exceptions are Dusky and AppleGreen . . !

How about in your gardens? Do eggplants find a happy home and do well for you? Which ones ??

Steve

 

[boggybranch]

I started 4 'Purple Beauty' eggplants this past year and set them out in the garden when the soil warmed up. One was taken over by ants. It appeared that they had actually "burrowed" inside the stalk of the one that was growing the fastest and came out at the crown. They were all over and in the eggplant.
I figured it was "lost" as it quit growing and began looking very ragged. With nothing to lose and everything to gain....I dusted them with, both, DE and Sevin dust several times. After what seemed an eternity, it started putting on new growth and made more "fruit" than the other three that were not affected........goes to show you, you just never know.

And how we like to prepare them is to slice them (crosswise or lengthwise doesn't really matter) and fry them in butter over medium heat and serve hot or warm...........shoot, they're even good nuked in the microwave after being in the fridge (that is if any are left to put in the fridge).

 

[obsessed]

I grew "fairy tale" eggplants this last year but I bought it as a transplant. It produced like 2 doz little egg plants. They had a really good flavor no bitterness and very mild. The only bad thing was that it took a ton of those little thing to make a creole dish and I couldn't fry them because they are so small and not worth cutting up or frying.
This year I got some Rossa Bianca from SSE exchange that I am going to retry. Last year I failed to get them to germinate. But that was likely user error. I only intend on having 4 plants.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I've tried a few different varieties and types, but I plan to only plant Ichiban this year. It is a Japanese variety, not one of the bells. I find I can do about anything with it I can with a bell, although I haven't tried stuffing one. Several varieties including bells do well here, but the main reqason for choosing Ichiban is that they don't seem as sensitive about having to pick them at the peak of perfection. If I'm a little early or a little lake, they are still pretty good. And I think they stir fry better than the bells.

I do not start eggplant from seed. I usually get them as started plants from the University of Arkansas Horticultural Club plant sale. Failing that, from a local gardening store.

Flea beetles seem to be my nemesis on eggplant. If I don't treat them, they quickly reduce all the leaves to lace. I have not seen flea beetles do any significant damage to anything else in my garden, but thye do enough damage to eggplant to require breaking out the Sevin.

 

[Rosalind]

This year, Udmalbet was the only one that survived the Blight Of Doom, so I'll be planting that one again. Other varieties included Rosa Bianca, Japanese Pickling, Black Beauty, and Snow White, none of which survived to produce so much as a bloody flower, so won't be doing those again.

My rotation this year has minimal space for Solanaceae, unfortunately, so it'll just be the one variety for eggplant, a couple types of pepper, a few tomatoes, some fingerling potatoes shoved in corners. 2010's focus is on greens, carrots, corn, legumes and onions, and for the first time, mushrooms.

 

[ducks4you]

The ONLY time I've eaten eggplant was at an Olive Garden as a parmesiana. I hated it. But, I love vegetables. Is there any other way to make it? I would really like to know, because they're SO PRETTY!!! (then, I could grow them, too)

 

[seedcorn]

The ONLY time I've eaten eggplant was at an Olive Garden as a parmesiana. I hated it. But, I love vegetables. Is there any other way to make it? I would really like to know, because they're SO PRETTY!!! (then, I could grow them, too)

Try some Indian recipes, may like it that way.

 

[ducks4you]

seedcorn--got any links?