I fell for eggplant as a child when I saw a neighbor’s plants hung with gorgeous glossy purple-black fruits. The fact that you could make them into mouthwatering meals was a bonus. Eggplant (Solanum melongena) is in the nightshade family along with tomatoes, peppers, and potatoes. Thomas Jefferson, that inveterate gardener and culinary adventurer, first tried to grow white eggplant, which looks like eggs hung from a little tree (hence the name) in the early 1800’s. He failed but others succeeded andby the 1860’s, US seed catalogues listed several varieties of eggplant.
There are now over 150 varieties — from bulbous purples and shiny lilacs through green-and-lavender striated fingers, white and purple water balloons, and overfed black woodworms. The flavor of eggplant is mild and lends itself to all kinds of uses – tempura’d, grilled eggplant salad on arugula with pine nuts and goat cheese, layered into lasagna, in Egyptian stew with garbazos, in that luscious Greek casserole mousaka, as caponata (stewed eggplant with roasted red peppers, onions, and garlic) laced with merlot and spread on crackers, or as soup –roasted eggplant, onion, garlic, peppers with paprika, dash of tomato paste and dash of red wine. Since all varieties taste similar, consider use when choosing. For example, the long slenderAsian types are better for grilling whole, and for shish kabob. For stuffing, the fatter Italian types work best.
I picked up an eggplant at Whole Foods last week and discovered, when I read the helpful sign for those of us conscious of the effect our buying choices have on all kinds of things – health, economy, environment, politics — that it came from our figurative back yard. Godfrey Farm in Sudlersville. We’re blessed here in Kent County, because our beautiful soil grows all kinds of things (unlike, say, the Gobi, or Siberia), including eggplant, which can be a little finicky. I’ve had only sporadic luck growing them, so I usually buy mine.
Eggplant is a long-season heat-loving vegetable that needs to be grown from transplants, which should go into the ground only after soil temps reach a reliable 55-60 degrees. They need plenty of water and two feedings a season. Like its cousin, the tomato, eggplant is susceptible to blossom-end rot, which is a sign of calcium deficiency or extremes of water and drought. Crushed oyster shells and other calcium supplements prevent it.
SOURCES:
Harris Seeds
www.harrisseeds.com
Johnny’s Selected Seeds
www.johnnyseeds.com
Seed Savers Exchange
www.seedsavers.org
Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds
www.rareseeds.com
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