Egg Plant
I have had such a hard time the past few years trying to grow eggplant in our Urban Potager. It just was riddled with obstacles throughout each season. It seemed I would never be able to grow eggplant in Palm Rae Potager ever again until this year! I finally was able to enjoy a wonderful eggplant parmesan the other day.
About 3 yrs ago, was the last time I remember having eggplant in our potager. In the past, I would have extra eggplant to give away,but the past few years I was lucky to see an eggplant seedling make it to mid-season. Summer eggplant is one of my favorite vegetables to eat!
I had such a problem with "flea beetles" and I was not the only one locally it seems a lot of people were unable to grow eggplant. I grew my own seedlings both years and was looking forward to fried eggplant or eggplant parmesan. I had to settle for fried zucchini ( which was not too bad!), but I just wanted some eggplant!
This year I was determined to get some eggplant. I read somewhere they tried growing eggplant in a field of red clover and had great success. Well, I thought what do I have to lose! I have a lot of white clover in my back yard since we don't spray and most of our yard is vegetables, herbs, flowers and fruit. We don't have much lawn to speak of since I put in our Urban Potager.I have a small strip down the middle to break up the garden beds and appease my husband, so he has something to mow!
I decided to grow eggplant in biodegradable containers. I figured if I had some pests problems I would be able to isolate them if I could move them away from the problem. I also heard that if you put them in containers, off the ground flea beetles don't bother them as much.My plants are at least 2 feet tall in their containers, and they are still producing more eggplant. I did not see any flea beetles this year. The last few years the blossoms would not form eggplant due to the leaf damage. This year the leaves were doing well until the aphids decided to drop by and be a problem. I read that if you dilute dawn soap in water it helps with aphids. It worked! I used organic fertilizer for my containers, organic pest control, and we have egg-plant! You do not have to use harmful chemicals it is possible to grow eggplant organically in the city.
I am so excited! I have been harvesting egg-plant for the past few weeks.
I grew an open-pollinated French Heirloom called "White Casper". It takes about 70 days from transplants to produce a 5" to 7" eggplant ( perfect size for eating). I admit I am a lazy cook and you do not have to skin these eggplant which makes it easier!
A few days ago I made a huge eggplant parmesan, and it was delicious. I found a recipe that had directions for the proper way to bread eggplant , you need 3 bowls . You put flour in one, egg in the other, and bread crumbs in the last bowl( in that order bread). I use to use only the egg mix and bread crumbs which is a messy job, but so worth the mess! I did sneak a few fried eggplant for myself before I made a large batch of eggplant casserole for everyone! YUM!