Honestly, I'm still learning about eggplants. Last year we only got a couple, and they became eggplant Parmesan. I'm interested in learning more ways to use eggplant, but that will have to wait for us to receive our first bumper crop. So far this year we have grilled it and made eggplant parm... so next is something new.
Transplanting Time: Late APR-Early MAY (in central Maryland)
Harvest Time: (in central Maryland)
Spacing: 1.5-2 ft. in row, 2-3 ft. between rows
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Gardening Tips:
In almost every way, I treat eggplant like peppers. They get put out in the same plot, with the same spacing, the same black plastic mulch, and the same cages. The only real difference is that flea beetles like eggplant leaves, so I occasionally spray the eggplants with diatomaceous earth.
Pick eggplants while they're small - just bigger than a grown man's fist. That's smaller than you buy them in the store.
Fertilizer Notes:
Eggplants can do without much fertilizer, perhaps just some 10-10-10 at planting
Preservation Notes:
Frozen in Eggplant Parmesan? There's probably too much water to make it worthwhile frozen.
Matt's Garden Notes:
Matt's 2013 Pepper/Eggplant Map
2012: one eggplant plant, perhaps 2 eggplants. Did not really try - eggplants just filled in extra space
2013: 2 black beauty eggplants, seeded 1 MAR, transplanted early MAY. Lots of fighting flea beetles, but eggplants emerged and were being picked by 10 JUL. 5 picked by 18 JUL
Recipes using Eggplant: