Post by chrysanthemum on Aug 22, 2023 6:39:28 GMT -6
I’m trying [again] to grow a traditional Palestinian eggplant. Here’s a link to a long article about the eggplant from a Palestinian food writer who is involved in trying to save seeds from traditional crops.
I bought my seeds last summer, I think, from Baker Creek. They were sold as “Neimat’s Battir Eggplant.” I tried planting a few as a fall crop, but they were taken out by flea beetles. I tried again this spring before we left Texas, but I never got germination. After I unpacked a few seed starting supplies earlier this month, I decided to try again to get a plant going. If I can get one to grow I’ll have to keep it inside under lights, but that’s what I’ll do if I can get a plant to that point.
On August eighth, I put four seeds into two little sponges [along with some Grey Zucchini seeds in other sponges]. Conditions should have been good for germination as they’re in a warm windowsill, and I have them in an old plastic container that has a lid to keep in moisture. I’ve never had success with these zucchini seeds, but I’m still trying. A couple Battir eggplants showed a radicle after several days, and they have been proceeding very slowly since. Just yesterday the first seed leaves popped up and required me to remove the lid from the container.
I didn’t want to delay getting the sponge out of the close-packed container so that no roots would go through to another sponge, so I broke open a fresh bag of high quality potting soil last night that I had purchased just for this eggplant project. I put the seedling in its sponge into a little nursery bag that I’m keeping in a pot. Right now it’s on an eastern windowsill, but I plan to move it from east to west as the sun moves. I want to keep the seedling inside till it’s a good bit bigger because of flea beetles. I hope I can keep them away inside.
This eggplant is supposed to be good at handling drought which is how I originally found it when I was going through exceptional drought in Texas. I wanted to grow it mostly, though, to help preserve a supply of seeds. One of my best friends is a Palestinian American, and she is very interested in traditional foods from her culture and cooks a lot with eggplant. She has a tiny yard where she lives but still manages to grow beautiful flowers and herbs and a few vegetables. One of my major goals is to produce an eggplant from which I can save seeds so that I can share them with her. I would really like to grow two eggplants so that I can taste one of them, but seed saving is my first goal. First, I have to see if I can nurture this tiny seedling into something of a plant.
I bought my seeds last summer, I think, from Baker Creek. They were sold as “Neimat’s Battir Eggplant.” I tried planting a few as a fall crop, but they were taken out by flea beetles. I tried again this spring before we left Texas, but I never got germination. After I unpacked a few seed starting supplies earlier this month, I decided to try again to get a plant going. If I can get one to grow I’ll have to keep it inside under lights, but that’s what I’ll do if I can get a plant to that point.
On August eighth, I put four seeds into two little sponges [along with some Grey Zucchini seeds in other sponges]. Conditions should have been good for germination as they’re in a warm windowsill, and I have them in an old plastic container that has a lid to keep in moisture. I’ve never had success with these zucchini seeds, but I’m still trying. A couple Battir eggplants showed a radicle after several days, and they have been proceeding very slowly since. Just yesterday the first seed leaves popped up and required me to remove the lid from the container.
I didn’t want to delay getting the sponge out of the close-packed container so that no roots would go through to another sponge, so I broke open a fresh bag of high quality potting soil last night that I had purchased just for this eggplant project. I put the seedling in its sponge into a little nursery bag that I’m keeping in a pot. Right now it’s on an eastern windowsill, but I plan to move it from east to west as the sun moves. I want to keep the seedling inside till it’s a good bit bigger because of flea beetles. I hope I can keep them away inside.
This eggplant is supposed to be good at handling drought which is how I originally found it when I was going through exceptional drought in Texas. I wanted to grow it mostly, though, to help preserve a supply of seeds. One of my best friends is a Palestinian American, and she is very interested in traditional foods from her culture and cooks a lot with eggplant. She has a tiny yard where she lives but still manages to grow beautiful flowers and herbs and a few vegetables. One of my major goals is to produce an eggplant from which I can save seeds so that I can share them with her. I would really like to grow two eggplants so that I can taste one of them, but seed saving is my first goal. First, I have to see if I can nurture this tiny seedling into something of a plant.
