On Eggplants

Suellyn on Eggplant

My share partner Nancy G. took and cooked some of those attractive yellow eggplants when they were available.  As we split up the following Saturday's share I mentioned that I hadn't tried any of them yet.  She said, "Oh they're so full of hard seeds that I had to keep spitting out.  Finally there wasn't enough veggie to make it worth eating."

Well, that explained why Charles had Butch pull all the yellow ones earlier that week.  He planned to keep them for seed, but unfortunately they were stored in the cooler, and put out for distribution. 

I've appended below a partial list of eggplant varieties.  We have at least four varieties growing in the greenhouse and those of us who harvest are at a loss to know when the various ones are ripe for harvest.  Apparently the 'yellow' ones should be harvested when they are at the spotted green stage, which is counter intuitive as far as I'm concerned. 

So yesterday, I went through those plants and pulled the ones that still had some green on them.  These are the only ones that we'll distribute.  All the yellow ones will be removed to stimulate the plants to produce more.  We'll see if that will works this late in the season. 

Inside the greenhouse is ideal for growing eggplant and we've had a good crop this year.  I hope you will peruse the list below (I googled eggplant varieties), think about the ones you've received and used, and give some feedback about how many and which varieties you'd like to have next year.

International Heirloom Eggplants:

• Cambodian Green Giant – Large, green fruits with light colored stripes and unique ribbed fruits.
• Diamond – This popular Ukrainian variety offers dark purple, delicious tasting fruits.
• Rosa Bianca – An Italian eggplant displaying beautiful shades of pink and lavender.
• Brazilian Oval Orange Eggplant – Fruits start out green, ripening to orange and finally red.
• Thai Yellow Egg – This heirloom eggplant from Thailand produces yellow, egg-shaped fruits.
• Ping Tung Long – A productive slender purple fruited eggplant from Taiwan.
• Japanese White Egg – Plants are very productive yielding large quantities of small white fruits.
• Thai Long Green – Another heirloom eggplant from Thailand produces long, light green fruits.
• Listada de Gandia – Purple and white striped eggplant, this one is another Italian variety.
• Goyo Kumba – Unusual, tall and ornamental African heirloom with attractive, bright red fruits.
• Chinese Round Mauve – This heirloom from China produces colorful medium sized eggplants.
• Udmalbet – This green and purple striped eggplant from India turns yellowish as it ripens.