EGGPLANTS FOR 2023
KURUME LONG – New! 60 days, Open-pollinated
This popular, early and productive Japanese heirloom variety is a favorite for its cylindrical 9 to 10”- long, shiny black fruits with black calyx, excellent texture and mild, delicate flavor. The attractive, high-yielding plants are very vigorous. Can do well in containers.
BLACK BEAUTY – New Again! 75-80 days, Heirloom OP
This 1902 Burpee introduction has perfect fruits earlier than other varieties. It soon became the classic farmers market and garden standard for eggplants, delicious grilled, baked, or fried. Broad, lustrous, purplish-black, egg-shaped 4” to 6” diameter (up to 2 lb) fruits are borne well off the ground on 18 to 24” plants; the skin is tender, so no need to peel it.
DIAMOND 70 days, Open-pollinated
SeedSavers Exchange collected this prolific, best-selling eggplant from Ukraine in 1993. Known for green-tinted flesh with excellent mild, non-bitter flavor and fine, creamy texture, the long dark purple 9” x 3” fruits are borne in clusters of 4 to 6 on 2’-tall, healthy plants. Yield is often equal to hybrids.
FAIRYTALE – New Again! 50 – 65 days, F-1 hybrid
Gourmet-quality violet & white striped mini eggplants, 2 to 4” long by .75 to 1.25” diameter, in clusters of 4 to 6 on compact 20” to 22” plants, perfect for containers. Flesh is tender, sweet, bitter-free and nearly seedless. The elongated oval fruits can be picked quite small at 1 to 2oz., or left on the plant until double that weight without sacrificing flavor
Eggplant ‘Galine’
GALINE 72 days, F-1 hybrid
Very early, dependable Italian-style eggplant with mild, creamy-fleshed, glossy black fruits averaging 1 lb.
LISTADA de GANDIA 80-90 days, Spanish Heirloom
Stunning, sweet, mild, thin-skinned, never-bitter eggplants on heavy-yielding plants to 14” tall. The beautiful purple and white striped 8” oval fruits have firm texture for breading and frying for classic Italian and Spanish dishes and Indian curries. They don’t require salting to extract liquid or bitterness; thrives in hot weather and in greenhouses.
ORIENT EXPRESS 58 days, F-1 hybrid
A very dependable, very early and very adaptable variety, with tender, mild-flavored, never bitter, quick-cooking flesh. High-yielding plants produce armloads of attractive, slender, glossy fruits 8-10” long x 1 ½ – 2 ½” diameter. Ready up to 2 weeks before many other varieties, and sets fruit in cool weather and under heat stress. Can do well in containers.
ROSA BIANCA 80-85 days, Heirloom OP
A lovely Sicilian heirloom with rosy pink fruit streaked with white and violet. Plump, rounded and slightly fluted 5-6” fruits have mild, creamy flavor, no bitterness and few seeds. Perfect for slicing, baking, roasting. Good yields.