Meet my Eggplants

Rosa Bianca

Listada de Gandia

Round Mauve

Dusky

Hi BB:

Great display of eggplant varieties!

Looking good BB. I trust you have added them to Plantfiles.

Hello eggplants! Pleased to meet ya!

My eggplants are supremely jealous. They haven't started fruiting yet.

girlgroupgirl

Yay - nice eggplants!

BB beautiful eggplants fruits.

Lucky you guys, thumper ate all of my eggplants this year. (I planted 30 somel, 6 different types).

Looking good BB! My eggplant mostly succumbed to flea beetles this year. Once I took care of that, they just didn't seem to get enough water. They have fruits now but they're very small and pathetic looking.

Jeff

Hi Jeff:

I almost lost mine too! Dang beetles.

But they cam back strong once I started dosing them with the tea once a week

BB

Eggplants have to be the most beautiful veggie. I was surprised at how dark round mauve was. I have it to, but my eggplants are way behind yours. Late spring here.

Plantfiles:
Dusky http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/135053/ needs comment, could use another photo.
Round Mauve http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/135053/ needs photos and comment
Listada de Gandia http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/62175/ needs photos and comment from growers.
Rosa Bianca http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/62168/ needs grower comments, could use another photo.

Awesome BB! I have a field mouse eating my eggplants as soon as they get a medium size.

Farmerdill:

We are cooking some today. Once I taste them I will add info to the links you provided.

BB, here is my entry for wierdest eggplant I ever grew.
Longship

It is wierd for an eggplant. How did it taste?

BB

I really like Longship, but what is weird about it? Reminds me of various Asian eggplants. Or are they all curved like that?

Just used to the fat ones. How did you like Rosa Bianca?

BB

I loved it, but you would be pleasantly surprised by the flavor of the long skinny ones. They are outstanding. I prefer them to the Italian type.

It is long and skinny. The size does not not lend itself to various dishes. It is a bit soft,but taste is ok, it is just not very versatile. The Japanese types like Ichiban and Millionaire are much more versatile and for me have much better flavor. This one never gets more than an inch in diameter even when 18 inches long. Rosa Bianco is competitive with Black Beauty, altho maybe not quite as prolific. I prefer the Japanese and Italian styles for cooking. One of my favoites Balaroi an Italian type

I rarely use the Italian style eggplants, but do sometimes in the winter when the Asian types are very expensive ( 4.99 per pound) and my garden is frozen over. For stuffing, I have to admit the Italian type is better. I grow a lot of Ichiban because it is easy to get the plants for, but I prefer Pink Tung long for flavor.
This year I am also growing Fairytale, Round mauve, and Kamo. I have some ping tung seedlings but they may not make. I had to plant my own seed when my favorite nursery decided to to grow them this year! They chose Kamo instead -- an Asian eggplant that is the shape of a small Italian squash.
I really love almost all eggplants. The only ones I am not so fond of is the bitter ones like Thai small round green and pea type. Some of the turkish ones are very bitter if allowed to ripen also. The Thai people love the bitter flavor but I don't. They are raised from babies having bitter foods rubbed on their lips so they will develop a taste for bitter. Why? So they will eat Bitter Melon and other medicinal veggies as adults. Bitter Melon contains quinine which fights malaria.

It freezes over in New Mexico???

Yes, New Mexico has hot dry areas, but it also has cool mountainous areas. We have 5 major ski areas in the more mountainous parts. I live within 15 minutes of one of them at 7,300 ft. We get enough snow for good skiing most years, though not as much as Colorado. Actually, hot weather crops don't do well up in the mountains where I leave. Okra doesn't grow more than 1 ft. high, sadly.
Southern New Mexico is mostly hot and dry and they raise a lot of New Mexico Green Chile. In the eastern part they grow a lot of peanuts. Green chile grows well here, too, but not as well as in the south, but we have a lot of traditional green chile cultivars that are much prized, especially Chimayo.
So, the southern part is hot and dry but makes for good farming if irrigated. We are cool and dry. We generally don't have day time temperatures above the low 90's here. Daytime summer temperatures are mostly in the 80's and sometimes lower. Our nights are very cool, rarely higher than 60 which makes it hard to set tomatoes here.
I am tickled to get eggplants to grow here. They love hot weather but tolerate our mild summers, thank goodness.
The attached photo is from my front steps on Christmas, 2006.

That is beautiful! Just an amazing view.

Thanks for the lesson on local climates. It's interesting to have someone local to an area describe the climates where they live.


BB

My pleasure. You are not the first person to be surprised to hear I don't live in something like the Mojave Dessert. It is very beautiful here. But some of New Mexico is desert. And I enjoy learning about other places as well.

Wonderful shots, bb! I think Dusky is my favorite so far. And I really like the Rosa Bianca. I've been trying alot of the ornamentals over the past few years, and though cute and interesting to grow, they just don't lend themselves to many dishes. Once I use up the seeds I have (hahahahahaha) I am going back to/and sticking with the basics!

My eps are not doing well this year. They just will NOT grow. I don't get it. Peppers are pretty dismal, too. My dusky is going to put out nicely, and perhaps the Italian White, but the rest are way behind - perhaps too far to be able to make it by the end of the season.

Lovely shot of NM. I, too, was surprised at the Geo lesson of the day!

Well, guess what. I finally got a Round Mauve eggplant and it is the same color as yours BronxBoy. It is not the same as the ones pictured on Seed Saver Exchange either, which is more elongated and mauve to white. Mine is a very deep purple.

I will post pictures later both on this forum and in plant files. I encourage you to do the same. Maybe we can find out why seed savers has such a different appearing variety.

This message was edited Aug 19, 2007 5:34 PM

Pajaritomt - that is a beautiful photograph of your winter wonderland! Yes - New Mexico has some of the most varied land forms I've ever seen in one state - been there many times. My vacation this summer took me there within 40 miles of Pajarito and we only figured this out afterward on one of these threads!

I just picked my third Ichibon this morning. We had solid rain for months and they needed that hot sun. My okra and eggplant producing is making the heat and humidity more bearable for me.

BB - those are beatiful! Also Farmerdill's. How big is the Rosa Bianca fruit? What is your favorite tasting one, so far those who grow many?

Lovely eggplants BB!

I like the Italian heirloom eggplants for (surprise!) Italian and Greek dishes. Also prefer their flavour in ratatouille over the Asian varieties. I use the Asian varieties for the Indian dishses.

That makes good sense!