I didn’t realize that I had an eggplant plant until today. I was weeding after about a two-week lapse (shameful) and saw, lo! Eggplants! I don’t remember planting eggplant, so Joel must have, unless this is somehow a volunteer.
This is the eggplant that tipped me off to the presence of an eggplant plant in one of our raised beds.
In the course of weeding this summer, I somehow serendipitously avoided pulling up this plant; I guess it looked like it might be something official. I’m glad my halfassed gardening instincts were correct. I’ve gotten used to most of the native weeds, so I generally know what I absolutely MUST destroy. I give everything else the benefit of the doubt basically until it turns into something identifiable or annoying. I know what stuff like melons, squash, carrots, etc. look like, but when I plant something new (i.e. Asian Eggplant) I’m not always sure what I’m looking at. Obviously!
The gradations of purple are really pretty, so I took a closeup of the top of the eggplant for posterity.
This is what I pulled in today. I probably should have left that smallest eggplant on the left to ripen a little longer, but it was touching the ground and I was afraid it would rot. I’m going to see if I can ripen it in a paper bag.
It’s completely irrational, but I feel like I have unexpected and FREE BONUS FOOD upon discovery of this eggplant plant. There are three more small eggplant fruits on the plant, plus some blossoms, so there’s a little more fresh eggplant in our future. Whoot!