Saturday, August 30, 2008

The Eggplant Comes Out of Hiding

The eggplants are producing again. In early August, they seemed to stop producing any flowers, and it was rather sad.

But within the last two weeks, all of my eggplants have gotten a second wind. One of the ichabod eggplants has two beautiful eggplants that are growing very lean and beautiful. They do have a few scars on them, but for the most part, they are elegant and long. I'm not sure when to harvest them. I'm afraid of I pick them too soon, they will be too immature. I might wait another week or so and then pick it. Maybe I'll make a casserole of some kind.

Below: Beautiful eggplants


My Black Beauty eggplant has not produced AT ALL this season. It's very depressing. The plant does have some flowers now, but I am not holding out hope. It'll be good if I do get some eggplants from it, but I won't count on it.

Have a great weekend!

10 comments:

Daphne Gould said...

I love the long thin ones like you have. They looks so beautiful. I think next year I may plant more than one variety. One long and thin, one round and fat.

tina said...

That Icabod is so cool. I picked a few regular eggplants and fried them, layered them in a casserole with onions and cheese and baked. It was so good! Hubby even ate it. That was the same night he had zucchini pies. What a night for veggies! Good eating!

Anonymous said...

I've never seen the long thin ones before. Very interesting looking eggplant. Not my favorite veggie, but it is good in stirfrys.

Eve said...

I grew one like that. I think it was called Slim Jim. My white one got off to such a good start but I only got one eggplant. It was cool though. It looks just like an egg when it is small.

Good luck with them. There is nothing like an eggplant with loads of cheese and tomato sauce, topped with bread crumbs. Yum.

Krista said...

Thanks for stopping by my blog....your eggplants look great! I read a bit farther down and wanted to comment on the lettuce for your fall planting...I think you'll really like the Romaine. I planted that for the first time this year and it turned out really well. It holds up well despite the temperature, too, which is nice when the weather suddenly turns (which it tends not to do in either TN or out here in OR, but this year its just been so unpredictable!).

Anonymous said...

Great looking eggplants dp. I didn't get to plant any this yr. I have some seeds from a white one that I had last yr. but they didn't do anything until it was about to get close to freezing. I grabbed the one on the plant. so I will try again next yr.
Enjoy your eggplant.

J said...

The eggplants look beautiful.

Now, I'm "new" to eggplant, so this might be a dumb question, but is there any difference in the flavor of these long and slender ones to the traditional black beauties? What about the mottled purple and white or the plain white ones?

Also, are they difficult to grow? Do you think they would grow in containers?

Sorry for the barrage of questions!

Dawn said...

Hi DP, eggplants aren't my favorite so I never grew them. I'm thinking they are one of the more difficult veggies, yours look good to me. Maybe the bb will show before October.

Susie said...

I'm just not a fan of that veggie. It's so pretty though. We sold both varieties at the nursery. I think Ichabod was very popular among customers.

DP Nguyen said...

Hi Everyone, I think I mistyped the variety. I do believe it's officially called "ichiban eggplant." LoL.

Hi Daphne- I also think the variety is pretty and very slender and perfect. I really think it's great. I want to plant more than one variety next year as well.

Hi Tina, That recipe sounds very good. Zucchini pies sounds yummy too. I'll post my recipe for the eggplant after I harvest and cook it!

Hi pgl-I agree, eggplants are delicious in stir-fry. My dad taught me a great stir-fry recipe. I grew up on eggplant, so I do enjoy eating them.

Hi eve, that recipe also sounds really good. I have to admit, eggplants seem hard to grow. I don't know why, but I can't get it to be very productive. Maybe it needs more heat or more water than I'm giving it.

Hi Krista, I love lettuce, so I am excited to be planting more. I rally hope the weather doesn't suddenly turn, but you knew know. The weather is so unpredictable!

Hi lola, good luck with your eggplants next year. I'm sorry about your lone one this year. Saving seeds is always a great idea, but i wonder if your eggplant from last year was a hybrid and that's why it had a hard time growing? I bought my eggplants as seedlings. I figured, they can't fail! lol.

Hi Jennifer, I am also new to eggplant, so I wish I could be more help. I don't think there is a difference in the flavor. Maybe to someone who is more sensitive to the varieties... but I do know that some varieties of eggplants have more seeds, and others don't have as big of seeds. I think it just depends on your preference.

Eggplants have been difficult to grow for me. I'm not sure why. Others have also had some difficulty. But I know Daphne, who lives up north, had an abundance of eggplants this season. I've never known anyone who grew them in containers, but I am sure you can. Just make sure that you buy a big and deep enough container for them to grow in, for their roots. Hope that helps. Good luck!

Hi Dawn, I agree, I do think eggplants are one of the harder veggies to grow. but it is rewarding when I can finally harvest it!

Hi Susie, I do think eggplants are beautiful. I love their purple color! I also think the slender varieties are more popular. They are just prettier.