Licia Favata, age 12, of Albany, New York, for her question:
Where did the purple eggplant originate?
Our pampered purple eggplant originated in some moist tropical region. Experts think that its wild ancestors first were cultivated in Northern India. They were bushy members of the potato family, Solanaceae. Their small fruit came in white, plus a wide range of glossy colors. Since all the fruits were egg shaped, it seemed sensible to disregard color distinctions and call them eggplants.
We owe a hearty vote of thanks to the early farmers who patiently coaxed the wild weeds to yield edible garden vegetables. Year by year, they selected and cultivated seeds from the best plants. Naturally they used no DDT, nor other chemicals to fertilize and control weeds or insect pests. They copied nature's methods and applied endless TLC ; tender, loving care.
Most likely we inherited our handsome eggplant from Northern India. Ages ago, some of these cultivated strains were taken to China and other parts of Asia. In the Middle Ages, eggplants from Asia Miner were adopted by gardeners in southern Europe. From there they were taken to South America.
Various eggplants produce fruits that are brown or black, yellow or multi striped, white or purple. In the 1860s, the popular purple type was coaxed to grow in our Southland. But it never forgot its tropical origins. This is why it needs a lot of loving care to reach maturity.
The seedlings need to spend their first 2 1/2 months or so in a greenhouse or indoors on a sunny window sill. They are planted in the garden when the weather promises daytime temperatures of between 80 and 90 degrees, with no nightly dips below 60 degrees. A cool summer spell stunts the growth of the bushy little shrubs and they produce puny fruit, or none at all.
Eggplants need deep, friable soil. It should be enriched with fine crumbly compost to permit drainage and topped with thick mulch to retain moisture. If all goes well, their fuzzy grey green foliage spreads to form handsome bushes, two or three feet high.
After about two months, they put on pretty purple blossoms. These are replaced by small green fruit which grow rather fast. As soon as they turn glossy purple, they are ready to eat. The handsome eggplant may win a vegetable beauty contest but it is rather low in both calories and food value. However, when properly pampered, the pulp inside the gorgeous skin has a delicious flavor.
Do not despair of growing your own eggplants, even if you live where summers are short. Some gardeners grow them as far north as Vermont. They keep their seedlings indoors for an extra couple of weeks. When the plants are in the garden, they are covered up whenever the weather threatens to turn cool. Another piece of encouraging news comes from the seed experts. Some of their new strains do not take quite so long to mature. They claim that their midget strain produces medium sized fruit on mini sized bushes after only 65 days in the garden.