Egg Plant – Nothing to Do with Eggs

Egg plant (Soalnum melongena), also known as aubergine, needs to be grown in a warm climate garden, though these plants can be grown under glass, as long as you are able to provide deep fertile soil. The aubergine is closely related to the potato, though its fruit are very different, growing on the plant above the ground to lengths between 4 to 10 inches. It is native to Africa and south Asia, though it is closely associated with dishes from the Mediterranean. These plants will give a Mediterranean feel to any vegetable garden.

Seeds should be planted in mid-spring in pots or seedling beds, with the plants to go outdoors once the first flowers start to open (though as with much gardening advice, this should be ignored if the frosts are not yet finished). Stems should be staked as soon as the plant is big enough, and the plants should be at least 30 inches apart.

Once the plants begin to bear fruit, use a high-potash fertilizer every few weeks, which should be readily available at your local garden supply outlet, and they should be ready to harvest 3 to 4 months after planting. The egg plants should not be left on the plant after this, as they will soon turn bitter.

Using Your Aubergines

While some fruits do look like large purple eggs, many varieties do not resemble eggs at all, but rather look like zucchini. For an average family, four to six plants in the garden are usually enough to supply fruit for a season’s worth of eating.

Many people choose to salt the fruit first to remove the bitter taste, but if the fruit is harvested from the plant at the right time this advice can be ignored. The vegetable gardener is now able to find white varieties with names like ‘ghost buster’ to grow in their gardens.

top