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Growing

Eggplant Anyone?

While taking a landscaping course recently, I had to identify the colors used in a particular color scheme. One of the colors was ‘Eggplant’ and it got me to thinking about growing eggplants in my greenhouse. I don’t really even know what an eggplant is. Sure, I’ve seen some in the grocery store, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen an eggplant plant. Is it like a pumpkin? Like a pear? Like a pepper? I have no idea. But it sure looks cool! I’ve never tasted it and have no idea even how to cook it, but I’d sure like to try to grow it and find out the answer to all these questions.

So I decided to do a little research. The first thing I discovered is that eggplant is technically a berry! Go figure that one! It seems pretty squash-like to me. Another surprise was that it’s a relative of the tomato. We’ll I’m certainly a fan of berries and tomatoes, so I think I’ll give it a try.

So, where to start? Well, I found this article at DIY Guides that walked me through all the basics of growing eggplants. It seems eggplants should fit right in with my tomatoes and peppers. They need an early indoor start, they like it hot, and should do just fine in my greenhouse. So I think I’ll give it a try.

If you’ve grown eggplants in your garden, let me know! I’d love to hear how it worked!

5 replies on “Eggplant Anyone?”

I live west of Airdrie and we planted eggplants in a pot this year. I kept them on the west side of the house and it is doing well! I moved it to the south side only a few weeks ago because it is a heat-loving plant and it surely appreciated it. I should have done that immediately! Yesterday I moved it into the greenhouse because of the frost warning. I generally treat it like a tomato and I think it does just fine. Here is a picture:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bowreality/3939175463/
As for receipes, I love eggplant parmiggiano or just barbequed slices with a little balsamic vinegar and salt/pepper dressing.

love eggplant, but know nothing about growing them

italian style -sandwhich
make fried eggplant:
cut into very thin slices, leaving the purple skin
dip into mixed eggs, then bread crumbs(the box if nothing else)

fry in olive oil , until brown on both sides

have with italian bread with fresh tomato and mozzarella cheese (the fresh one in the market that’s a ball, no wrapped cheese here!!!)

if you have more time , then use tomato sauce and parmigiana cheese ( make a parmigiana sandwich/hero) and sprinkle sharp romano chesse

greek style:
appetizer
skin and boil egg plant, mash into pulp and add balsamic vingar, chopped onion and mashed greek olives. serve with pita bread or crackers, makes a great dip
(also have oilve oil and a bit of red crushed pepper for dipping bread also)

mideastern:
baba ganoush http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baba_ghanoush
buy sesame bread from turkish market, serve it hot

enjoy

We’re just outside Athabasca Alberta. We’ve grown eggplant twice. This past year we were much more successful. I started them early in the house and grew them in a small poly tunnel with watermelons, cantaloupe, and cucumbers. We actually got quite a few. They weren’t as big as what you’d get in a grocery store, but that’s probably as much because of variety as anything. They definitely like it hot and would do really well in your pvc pipe greenhouse.

We’re looking into building a decent sized poly tunnel/greenhouse this year. I’m wondering how your new modified pvc pipe greenhouse worked for you this year? Any modifications you would make? How has it held up under snow this winter?

Great blog – thanks!

cheers,

Lisa

Lisa, Thanks for your comments! The one modification that I think I will make is a temporary support for the winter. It was a little saggy on some snowy days, but held up none-the-less. It’s nice not to have a pole in the middle to work around in the summer, so I think I’ll just put a temporary one in to hold up the snow during the winter and take it out for the summer.

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