GROW IT
Eggplant is all about aesthetics, not taste
March 11, 2010
Sonia Day
SPECIAL TO THE STAR
Container Eggplant Little Prince; Solanum melongena
This is what I call a PCP – a Perfect Container Plant. It looks striking and unusual, producing elegant grey green leaves that are fun to stroke. Delicate violet flowers come next. And finally, there's the shapely fruit – which you can eat.
If you've never tried growing eggplant, join the hipsters and do it this year. (Cultivating our own food is all the rage). The fruits are fascinating. Shiny as patent leather shoes, they come in glorious purples, plus stripey combinations and even a ghostly white.
They generally grow much smaller in our climate than traditional eggplants sold in supermarkets. And if the coming summer proves as cool and rainy as last year's, yours may be hard and inedible. But who cares? Eggplant is all about aesthetics. It looks terrific growing in a container on a deck or balcony (and many of us aren't that partial to the taste of the stuff anyway).
Some tips: this is a tropical veggie. Hot weather and sun all day are necessary for the fruits to develop. And because they take ages, buy started plants. Look for these at garden centres such as Loblaws and Sheridan's in late April.
Be sure to pick a container variety, because they're easier to cultivate. (Growers have come out with several). Plant in big deep pots, never expose to frost, and clip away excess foliage to show off the fruit, which normally starts forming in late July.
To learn more about offbeat herbs, veggies and other fun stuff, come to Canada Blooms on March 17. I'm launching my new book, Incredible Edibles: 43 Fun Things to Grow in the City, in a talk there at 3 p.m.
And exciting eggplant is high on the list.
www.soniaday.com
Toronto Star