Tuesday 28 August 2012

Unexpected successes

Who was it that wrote in a comment on my blog a few months back "Don't bother trying to grow Aubergines in the UK. They never do well and you'll be lucky if they set any fruit" (or words to that effect)?

Well I don't care who it was, because I have proved them wrong! My two "Pingtung Long" Aubergine plants have done much better than I expected, and they have both now delivered their first mature fruits.

The very first fruit is visible in this picture from 19th August:


And now the other plant has produced its first one. This fruit is over 12" / 30cm long.


I'm sure it would have grown longer if I had let it - but you know how impatient I am...


The plant that produced it is groaning with further fruit - about another dozen or so, I would say, at various stages of their development - and that's not counting the ones still at the flower stage.


Now, you may recall me saying that we are not keen on eating Aubergines, but that we were prepared to try them again with home-grown ones. Well, we ate the first one the other night in a Filipino-style beef, vegetable and peanut dish. It was actually quite pleasant. There was no bitterness, and the skin was not tough. And of course you have already read about the Aubergine relish I made... So, I think it is safe to say that we will be trying a few more dishes that include Aubergines.

The key to my success may have been the use of my trusty plastic mini-greenhouses, in which the plants were raised in their early days, successfully protecting them from the atrocious weather.

My other unexpectedly good result has been with cucumbers. Last year my "Marketmore" outdoor cucumbers were a complete washout, producing only one solitary (and very bitter) fruit. This year I switched to a Lebanese or cocktail-type cucumber, an F1 variety called "Iznik". Early in the year I thought I was going to have another total failure, since the plants struggled even to survive in the cold wet conditions we endured during the Spring. Starting from 6 seeds, I eventually ended up with 2 plants, both of them looking pretty sickly. With the advent of warmer conditions though, they bucked up a lot. I have already harvested 12 cucumbers, and they have been really nice - firm and crunchy without being in any way tough.
Last Thursday I picked 6 fruits all on the same day:


I haven't been able to get a decent photograph, so you'll just have to take my word for it that there are loads more cucumbers to come. Great! I think they are wonderful, and I will definitely be growing this variety again.

Cucumber "Iznik"

Maybe next year I will delay sowing until about the beginning of May though. This year my early sowing was not a good idea, and with warm conditions cucumber plants grow very rapidly.

15 comments:

  1. Wish we could prove that person wrong too but no fruit at all on our aubergine in spite it being in the greenhouse ... but the Burpless tasty Green outdoor cucumbers are prolific. So crunchy compared to shop bought!

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  2. I cheated with my aubergine. I bought a plant (reduced) with fruit on it. Where did you buy your seed from please Mark? They look rather fun. Well done.

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    1. I got these seeds from Plants of Distinction. I have found them to be very good, and they carry a lot of different varieties you don't see in many other catalogues - and huge numbers of different tomato and chilli varieties!

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  3. I've had the same trouble in cold years with cukes. If I can get them to live early on they will produce, but they shiver in the early cold. Not that we have had too much cold weather the last couple of year.

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  4. I am so pleased for you! I am an eggplant addict and grow them every year - but I do live in Sydney. I am glad that you may become another eggplant addict on the other side of the planet.

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  5. Hooray! Glad you had success and even happier you have found a way to enjoy them!

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  6. Those are GORGEOUS!!! You've done WAY more than prove the naysayer wrong!

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  7. Congratulations on your successes! Always fun to grow things that are more challenging for your region - especially when it works out so well. :D

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  8. Yay for growing something they said you couldn't. And Yay for finding that you really like these home grown eggplants.

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  9. I am so glad your Ping Tung eggplants are producing abundantly for you and more please to know you like them. This is my favorite eggplant.

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  10. What great harvests. I remember being amazed when I went to Ireland and they have to grow all their tomatoes and such indoors. Here sometimes I have to shade them to keep them from getting a sunburn!

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  11. Yay for the aubergines! Isn't it great to take a chance and beat the odds. My climate is a bit cool for aubergines, but I've found that Asian varietie and other smaller fruited varieties generally do well. The big globe eggplants don't always do well but sometimes they surprise me.

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  12. The Ping Tun look like they are doing well. I am going to try them next year. During my walkabout around the community garden, it seems the oriental eggplant varietiess are more resistant to the #@&! flea beetles that have wiped me out the past two years. Yours look completely unaffected, do you even have flea beetles? Meanwhile, off to the farmers market to buy me some. They seem ideal for roasted eggplant salad with smoked almonds and goat cheese, which is on my list to try if I only had some eggplant!

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    1. David; Yes we do have flea beetles. You should see the leaves of my poor radishes!

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  13. Beautiful! Those cucumbers and eggplants are just gorgeous.

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