Eggplant

Eggplant wants steadier heat than most of this yard's crops, which is why it gets the warmest corner and a dark grow bag. Slender Japanese types make the schedule work, picking July to October.

Growing

Sow inside in mid March, eight weeks out, but hold transplants until nights sit near 60F, usually the very end of May; a chilled eggplant sulks for a month and never quite forgives. One plant per 5 to 7 gallon bag, staked at planting because a loaded plant leans hard. The bag itself is the trick, since black fabric warms the roots the way this crop expects. Pick glossy and young; a dull skin means seeds and bitterness. Steady water the whole run matters as much as the heat, since drought bitterness sets in before the plant ever looks thirsty.

Varieties

Orient Express and Ping Tung Long are quick slender types that keep setting through a cooler summer; Fairy Tale is the small striped one that earns its bag.

Pests

Flea beetles treat eggplant as the best restaurant in the garden and can stall seedlings outright, so net or cover the plants until flowering. Colorado potato beetle moves in too; scrape the orange eggs off leaf undersides before the larvae get organized.

In the kitchen

Thin-skinned Asian types skip the salting step and go straight to a grill or hot pan. Charred whole, the flesh mashes into a smoky dip that eats a surprising number of eggplants.