We love growing eggplant. This is one of those crops that took us a while to learn how to grow but, once we figured it out, it became one of our most reliable ones year after year. If you've tried growing eggplant at home you'd know how difficult it is to have it established. The problem is that eggplant seems to attract every undesirable bug there is. The young plants suffer a lot and struggle to grow and bear fruit. Other times they just die. What we have learned is that if we keep the plants covered with an insect-protecting fabric from transplant until they start flowering, they ultimately thrive. (They have to be uncovered when they start flowering for pollinators to do their job). At that stage the plants are well established and strong enough to take a lot (really a lot) of insect pressure. That's our secret. No sprays, no biohazard suits. Just a simple row cover. The rest is the beautiful produce you see in your boxes. This year we are growing three different varieties: two Italian types (black and purple/white) and Asian type (long and thiner). These plants should be bearing fruit right until the first frost so likely you will see them in your boxes for the remainder of the CSA season.
Blessings from the homestead.
