dianne
AGA Sprout
Excited to expand my AG farm, learn, and experiment!
Posts: 147
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Post by dianne on Mar 13, 2020 12:15:29 GMT -5
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Shawn
Administrator
Posts: 16,211 
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Post by Shawn on Mar 13, 2020 12:56:44 GMT -5
Exciting .....  |
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Sher
AGA Farmer
Posts: 7,025
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Post by Sher on Mar 13, 2020 16:42:19 GMT -5
Awww. Such cute babies!
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dianne
AGA Sprout
Excited to expand my AG farm, learn, and experiment!
Posts: 147
|
Post by dianne on Mar 21, 2020 17:03:01 GMT -5
Day 76: The plants are looking healthy. Lots of buds, flowers, and a growing number of eggplants!  The largest eggplant is 3 inches long. My research suggests they are ready for picking at about 4 inches. Hopefully they will keep in the refrigerator until there are enough of them to cook.   |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 21, 2020 19:08:18 GMT -5
really beautiful color and fruit. Any idea on how you will prepare them, dianne?
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dianne
AGA Sprout
Excited to expand my AG farm, learn, and experiment!
Posts: 147
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Post by dianne on Mar 22, 2020 0:04:05 GMT -5
I've been looking up recipes online. Most suggest roasting or grilling them. Which recipe I choose to try will partly depend on the weather. Either way, I will report back!
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Shawn
Administrator
Posts: 16,211
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Post by Shawn on Mar 22, 2020 4:20:14 GMT -5
I can not wait to see how you cook this lovely fruit
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dianne
AGA Sprout
Excited to expand my AG farm, learn, and experiment!
Posts: 147
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Post by dianne on Mar 27, 2020 17:57:50 GMT -5
I couldn't wait any longer to try these eggplants! I didn't have very many ...  So I decided to cook them in the toaster oven. I sliced them in half, drizzled them with olive oil, salt, minced garlic, and rosemary.  I roasted them at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. They were tender and tasty, although not particularly memorable. Next time, I'll try to find a more interesting way to season and serve them. |
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Shawn
Administrator
Posts: 16,211
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Post by Shawn on Mar 27, 2020 18:36:50 GMT -5
They look good.
Mary grew Patio Baby Eggplants. She roasted hers then placed them on a pizza.
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Sher
AGA Farmer
Posts: 7,025
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Post by Sher on Mar 27, 2020 21:29:48 GMT -5
In my experience, eggplant always needs a little help with seasonings. But on the rare occasions I get it right, it's good. My favorite way to eat is is southern breaded and fried. Not healthy. but YUM!
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Post by Deleted on Mar 27, 2020 22:10:28 GMT -5
Oh but it WAS memorable, I am sure...because YOU grew them from seed, You seasoned them, YOU cooked them and YOU enjoyed the satisfaction. Job well done!  |
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dianne
AGA Sprout
Excited to expand my AG farm, learn, and experiment!
Posts: 147
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Post by dianne on Mar 28, 2020 17:42:46 GMT -5
Oh but it WAS memorable, I am sure...because YOU grew them from seed, You seasoned them, YOU cooked them and YOU enjoyed the satisfaction. Job well done!  You are right, of course, Corinne! I never was a fan of eggplants. My husband can't believe I decided to grow them. But the plants looked like they'd be beautiful (they are!) and the fruits looked like they'd be adorable (they are!). This is a fun crop to grow, regardless of how they're served. Although I am eyeing up some recipes for spicy zaalouk, a Moroccan eggplant salad I once enjoyed in a restaurant. |
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dianne
AGA Sprout
Excited to expand my AG farm, learn, and experiment!
Posts: 147
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Post by dianne on Apr 1, 2020 21:43:34 GMT -5
An interesting thing about these eggplants is: other things I grow in this garden do more and more poorly the bigger the eggplants get. My tomatoes were originally promising, and I grew my first batch of (delicious) baby bok choy squeezed between the eggplants and the tomatoes. But once the eggplants got really big, everything else looked stunted.  It may be a matter of nutrients, but I have never varied the nutrients I put in this garden. I am still following the recommendations on the bottles that I get from AeroGarden. I know from reading posts here that other people adjust the amount or add other nutrients. I've been too timid to do anything but follow the directions. Therefore, the same amount of nutrients have been going into this garden every 14 days since the beginning. But when the eggplants got big, everything else failed to thrive. I am hoping to harvest a sizable crop of eggplants next week to make zaalouck, a spicy Moroccan dish served with crusty bread, and maybe a final small crop to share with my dad -- who loves eggplants (but my mom won't let him plant them because she doesn't like them and doesn't want to cook them). Then I think I will end this project. I'm not willing to continue giving up the whole garden to a plant that won't share the space, if you know what I mean. |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 2, 2020 8:02:25 GMT -5
I am really loving the purple and also the size of the fruits on the plant. A good project, indeed.
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Shawn
Administrator
Posts: 16,211
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Post by Shawn on Apr 2, 2020 9:36:07 GMT -5
They are so cute
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Post by scribbles on Apr 4, 2020 16:11:19 GMT -5
Hi there!
I am a newbie in this forum and at hydroponics in general. Seeing your marvelous progress, I am very excited about the Fairytale Eggplant that I have planted in my Bounty (I only planted one pod, and left one open slot next to it). It's about 2 weeks old, 2 inches tall, with 4 stalks. I am wondering if you removed the weaker stalks, leaving only one stalk, so that the others would not compete for nutrients.
(Aerogarden provides almost no eggplant guidance. There is an implication that their tomato info is applicable to other veges, in which case it is implying that eggplants should also be thinned down to one stalk per pod?)
Hope you can shed some light given your experience :-) Many thanks!!
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dianne
AGA Sprout
Excited to expand my AG farm, learn, and experiment!
Posts: 147
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Post by dianne on Apr 9, 2020 9:19:21 GMT -5
Hi there! I am a newbie in this forum and at hydroponics in general. Seeing your marvelous progress, I am very excited about the Fairytale Eggplant that I have planted in my Bounty (I only planted one pod, and left one open slot next to it). It's about 2 weeks old, 2 inches tall, with 4 stalks. I am wondering if you removed the weaker stalks, leaving only one stalk, so that the others would not compete for nutrients. (Aerogarden provides almost no eggplant guidance. There is an implication that their tomato info is applicable to other veges, in which case it is implying that eggplants should also be thinned down to one stalk per pod?) Hope you can shed some light given your experience :-) Many thanks!! Hi, scribblesSorry I didn't see this until today. Yes, I removed the weaker stalks and left only 1 plant per pod. I planted 2 pods total, and eventually they grew to take over half the space in my Farm Plus. And then everything else I planted in the rest of the garden was stunted. The eggplants were either very greedy in their use of nutrients, or they put out something that discouraged competition. Good luck with your Fairytales! ~ Dianne |
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dianne
AGA Sprout
Excited to expand my AG farm, learn, and experiment!
Posts: 147
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Post by dianne on Apr 9, 2020 9:33:16 GMT -5
Earlier this week, I harvested enough eggplant to recreate a dish I enjoyed at a Moroccan restaurant: zaalouck, a spicy tomato and eggplant salad that can be served warm or cold.  It's supposed to be served with crusty bread or hearty pita, but I couldn't lay my hands on either of those things this week. So I made homemade biscuits even though I didn't think they were exactly right for this dish ... but they turned out fine! Now that there are many fruits growing on the plants, they are ripening at a smaller size. As they get ripe, they fade from a brilliant amethyst color to a pale lavender. Since they are ripening smaller, I will probably only get one more meal's worth from this crop. I plan on delivering them to my father (dropping them on his doorstep with no contact). I've spoken to my mother on the phone, and she is not happy about this. She loathes eggplants! But I assured her they would be easy to prepare and she would not be required to eat any!  I notice that, as the eggplants are reaching the end of their life, the baby bok choy in that garden that have been stunted for 3 weeks are suddenly starting to grow again!  |
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dianne
AGA Sprout
Excited to expand my AG farm, learn, and experiment!
Posts: 147
|
Post by dianne on Apr 9, 2020 9:43:24 GMT -5
For the reference of future eggplant growers, like scribbles, here is the color difference between a ripe Fairytale and a non-ripe one. The paler eggplant lying on the grow deck is ripe. The darker ones hanging above are not. At first I was judging by size, harvesting them when they reached 4 inches. But then I noticed the color change, from amethyst to lavender. And as the plants produced more fruit, they started ripening at a smaller size.  |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 9, 2020 11:12:24 GMT -5
I could enjoy some of that for lunch today!  |
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