Aubergines

[Alice]

And makes great Aubergine soup. ONe of my favourites.

[Amanda1]

I'm trying Baby Rosana, will keep 3 in the greenhouse and try the others on the decking, fingers crossed

[lyndap]

Thanks for the info Manda.Yes,another 'veggie'.I have been for 18 1/2years.I love aubegines, but must admit it depends on how you prepare and cook them.

[smallblueplanet]

lyndap I guess we don't do anything too exotic with our aubs - I always fancied trying 'Imam Bayildi' or 'the Imam fainted'

recipe link

there are a few versions knocking about the web.

But we just tend to cube 'em/chop 'em up and put 'em in things like curry, chilli, pasta sauce, etc. Never had to salt 'em or mess about with 'em - but I've read that if the aub is too old its more possible it may be bitter.

Good luck with the growing. Our baby aubs have started to put on a bit of growth with the extra light and heat, so I'm less worried about them.

I'll post up some photos later on if they turn out ok - would love to see any other aub photos from you grapes. (Does that sound odd?? )

[urban-gardener]

My favourite is moussaka which is not much good for vegetarians but I am sure you could use Quorn mince instead of lamb. It is absolutely delicious.

I find you don't need to salt them if you are using your own ones fresh off the plant. I think the bitterness comes with age - and most varieties now seem less bitter than before - I think the salt is just a tradition now.

[vicki]

I always like to cube them and roast with a mixture of potatoes, carrots, peppers and cherry tomatoes with a bit of olive oil and some herbs. yummy!

[blossom]

Alice, how do you make aubergine soup? I love them. mmmm

[Lesley Jay]

Alice post the recipe for aubergine soup in Season To Taste then everyone can read it and it will not get lost in the vegetable section.

[Elmo]

By far the best way to cook aubergines is in vegetable lasagne my fella isn't a big fan of a lot of veg but preferes veggie lasange to meat!!

Dead easy to make: 2 courgettes (doubles up to use a glut of these too)
1 Aubergine (a big one like supermarket size)
1 green pepper
1 red pepper
1 yellow pepper
1 large onion
Chop everything up into nice big chunks pop in a pan with a clove of garlic and some olive oil fry gently then add a jar (this is the very easy method) of pasta sauce (my favourite is dolmio extra spicy) and cook till the veggies soften. Then quite simply put a layer in your dish then a layer of lasagne sheets cover with white sauce (also avalible in a jar). Then another layer of veggies then more pasta and more white sauce sprinkle some grated mozzarella over the top and to make it extra special grate the crust of a brown loaf over it (It will make the top go crunchy and lovely). Shove it in the oven on about 150 - 170 till it bubbles and the cheese browns. Serve with garlic bread and some of your home grown salad. Fantastic eaten on the patio!!!

I'm growing Black enorma as well got a bit giddy when planting the seeds and have now got twenty plants, going to rehome some this week

[LADY NOVICE]

Thinking about getting ready to plant out things into the greenhouse - we plant direct into the borders.

As some of our aubergines are tiny I just cheated and got one from the garden centre, I think it will be ready to plant in a week or so....

So should I cover the border with black plastic to warm it up? Then if I do that should I leave it on and plant thru it or take it off and plant?

Phew! who else is doing aubergines this year?

Hi manda, i am thinking of growing aubergines for thr first time from seed, would you know or any one else know how big the plant gets. thanks, Tracy

[di]

We're trying three varieties this year...I'm so determined to have success!!!I've got several Bellezza nera that were planted end of Dec or start of Jan that are pretty big already.Also,in the propogator & ready to be potted up are some Moneymaker & Red Egg.
Our plan this year is to have a few in the greenhouse,a few out in the open,a few more under cloches(got some old school stoolsI'm going to cover in plastic)and then a couple at home in pots.
One method HAS to work...so far I've only ever had one fruit & that got slugged!

[smallblueplanet]

Hi manda, i am thinking of growing aubergines for thr first time from seed, would you know or any one else know how big the plant gets. thanks, Tracy

Hi Tracy, the plants can get quite big - maybe 3ft-4ft or so, but you can prune them as necessary. We tend to remove leaves as for tomatoes, when they get too congested to allow some air flow. We also prune them if they are growing in the wrong direction, they're normally fairly tightly packed in our greenhouse, along with toms/peppers/chillies/cuke/basil/marigolds.

Here's some previous threads from as long ago as this one with some pictures of different types of aub we've grown.

http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...grow_2125.html

http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...pics_2263.html

[crichmond]

As some of our aubergines are tiny I just cheated and got one from the garden centre

Oh dear, tut tut tut, deary deary me.... Whatever next, I hope you dont make a habit of it Manda or there will soon be a garden centre in every town..


I grew 5 plants in the greenhouse last year in the autopot system they filled one side of the 8x6 greenhouse and grew to just under 5 foot high.

[smallblueplanet]

Whatever next, I hope you dont make a habit of it Manda or there will soon be a garden centre in every town...

We're the 'rural poor' out here crich, not many jobs you know! Gotta keep people employed in these credit crunch times!

What did your hydroponic aubs taste like btw - all water?

[Sellis]

We have had a go at growing Augergines this year as I have a great Moussaka recipe, (yummy, always turns out perfect and freezes well), but the aubergines are usually more expensive than the lamb mince!

Reading this thread has been really useful. My plants are only 4 or 5 inches high at the moment and I now feel a bit more prepared about what to expect with them and what the pitfalls might be.

Thanks. I new it was worth joining this forum. Great info and advice.

Sellis