Eggplants: Third time's a charm

This will be our 3^rd year with the garden. 2 years ago we rented our little plot in mid-April. We were picturing some sort of idealized, fully functioning garden already cultivated and perfectly manicured into which we could gracefully step and spend the summer harvesting our fully functioning flora.What we got was a small plot with some weeds, grass, and a row of 5 tiny leeks barely alive. But no worries. It was great getting in there and working the ground. Planning what we were going to grow. Figuring out when and where it should be planted. Slowly, things started happening. We made some mistakes, but who doesn’t?

Anyway, where I’m trying to go with this rambling introduction is that the garden we got was not in very good condition. The soil hadn’t been tilled the year before, no organic additions, no compost. Nutrient-poor with bad soil structure. Heavy clay. That stuff was like stone at some points.

 Ugly little things

The aubergines we grew that first year we pitiful. Inedible, unimpressive little things. We’d started them too late. We didn’t even have seedlings going until late April. My garden neighbour had already commented that he didn’t think we’d get much on the plant since aubergines need some time to mature. Well, he was right.

Last year we started everything much earlier. I think we had seedlings started in the 2^nd week of March. Also, we moved last November to a bigger apartment with much larger windows, so we were able to get our plants going at home. We designated a corner of our living room as a plant nursery.

We also decided to plant the eggplants outside instead of the greenhouse. The primary reason was that it was easier in terms of watering. The greenhouse dries out pretty quick, and we don’t always have time to go over there (on the bicycle – this is Holland, remember) and give everything water. Rain makes things easier sometimes.

Getting better

The aubergines turned out quite well. They still weren’t as big as I had hoped. These turned out longer and thinner than what you normally see at the market. We also had a series of heavy storms in early August that knocked over a lot of plants (even being staked out), and that didn’t help.

But this year, we’re going to try again. I’ve definitely come to appreciate eggplants. I can still remember the first time I actually tried them, and how I really couldn’t stand the taste. I was having dinner at a friend’s parent’s house and out of politeness finished everything on the plate, but those eggplants really weren’t appetizing. These days though we eat them at least once a week in some form or other. They say you have to eat something at least 7 times before you actually begin to like the taste. I guess that seems to have worked for me.

We’re also going to grow Snowy Eggplants, the white coloured ones. They look really cool.  Hope it works out. This year I really want to get some new varieties in the garden. And I’m going to put plants in the greenhouse as well as the outside. The idea is to start them mid-february and really get ‘em going. Big, full fruit is what it’s all about.