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Grow Your Own: Eggplants

I am so excited.

Warning: Picture spam ahead - I got a little too carried away with the photos.

So, what’s the excitement about?

Today, I had a mini, teeny weeny harvest from my little gardening endeavour. 2 bright red bell peppers (capsicums) and 1 eggplant to be exact! Lookie!

My mini harvest - a mini eggplant and 2 pretty & big bell peppers

Ok, in case you jump too quickly to the conclusion that I have green fingers, let me tell you that I think I’m the last person on earth who have green fingers. My plants are frequently behaving oddly and I had the worst looking plants along the entire floor I’m living at. My neighbours must be wondering what I am doing to the plants. And nope, I didn’t grew these plants from seeds either. Most of them are bought from the nurseries from my dear to me, so I just had to water and fertilise them (and ‘replace’ them if they become really sick, opps) ;P

So why do I still grow these plants despite my inexperience? For one, I think it’s wonderful to own a few pots of my favourite edibles as the produce is as fresh and organic as it can get. If you are only cooking for 2-3 people like I do, it’s all the more better because you don’t have to buy a big packet of veg/herbs just to use a little bit. Some edibles such like rosemary, lime and pandan leaves - can be harvested as and when I need them. And it’s so convenient to have them around too, you never have to run to the supermarket every time u needed a herb. A little gardening (especially seeing them blossom n fruit) is theurepeutic and good for the soul too

My mini collection of potted edibles resides outside my corridor, where there is strong sunlight throughout the early half of the day.

I’m posting a photo of what the place looks like, just to show that 1) you don’t need a garden to do gardening, and 2) no space is too small.

My mini corridor edibles ‘garden’ - can you spot some of the edibles?

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Moving on to today’s star - my potted eggplant.

Pretty? Ok, I admit this shoot was taken quite soon after I bought the pot =P We got it for S$7.50 and so far I’ve already enjoyed 3 eggplants, one of which was born under my care

There are still new flowers blooming so hopefully I get more eggplants next month (keeping fingers n toes crossed). Very worth for S$7.50 right? Especially considering how pricey organic vegetables cost in Singapore, I’ve more than got back the money I paid for.

These eggplants need ample sunlight, lots of water and well drained soil. I fertilise them with organic neem fertiliser once a week, and added a kind of pink fertiliser that supposedly helps induce flowering every fortnight. Yep, that’s all the care they required so far, so it’s pretty fuss free. You may not see these potted plants at nurseries all the time in Singapore, although I have seen them selling at World Farm, and Far East Flora (Thomson) occasionally (I bought mine from a neighbourhood store). If you are getting from these two places, you may wish to call them to check if they have stock first.

Kind of harvested this a little too late so the purple was beginning to fade.  It still tastes good, nevertheless.

Ok, wanna know what dish I whipped out with the eggplant? Checked out Part Two!

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Previously growing:
- Pandan leaves, and making green bean soup

This post, together with part two, is submitted to Andrea’s Grow Your Own event, hosted by Jungalbandi this week.

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Tags: eggplant, Growing Edibles, organic, vegetable

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