Sow seeds indoors 1/4 inch deep, 8 weeks before setting out plants. Provide bottom heat of 80 to 90 degree F. Seedlings do best around 70 degrees. A week of 60 degree temperatures just before moving to the garden will prepare them for transplanting. Eggplants are ready to be set out whem the weather has moderated and daytime temperatures reach the 60's. Place transplants 18 inches apart, in rows spaced every 2-3 feet. To prevent diseases, do not grow eggplant in soil that has recently hosted them or other members of the night shade family.
HEIRLOOM EGGPLANT
HARVESTING HEIRLOOM EGGPLANT:
Harvest the fruits before they get to their full size. Overripe eggplant tastes bitter, and prompt picking encourages production. Be sure to cut fruits from the plant rather than trying to twisi or tear them free. Use them right after harvest to enjoy them at their best. So not store them in the refrigerator.
SAVING HEIRLOOM EGGPLANT SEEDS
Take seeds from the eggplant that are past ripe and have lost their glossiness, spoon out the seedy center and rinse in a sieve to seperate the sees. Dry them on glass plantes.
66634 - SAVING SEEDS
The Gardener's Guide to Growing and Storing Vegetable and Flower Seeds
by Marc Rogers
Learn how to select, harvest, and store seeds from more that 100 vegetables and flowers commonly grown in home gardens.
192 pages, 6 x 9, paperback,
$12.95
66918 - Soil Scoop
Called one of the "50 Favorite Gardening Products" by Organic Gardening, this general purpose digging tool has a patented spoon shaped blade with a sharply pointed tip and serrated edges. By using it with the point down - opposite of how you'd hold a trowel- it works like a natural extension of your hand. Use the Soil Scoop to dig holes, furrow, weed, cut roots, and open soil bags. Also great for pots & containers
