Is this a big eggplant fruit (pics)

WVTomatoMan · June 10, 2010

I thought it was a big eggplant fruit. But, I took it to work for my friend to make eggplant parmesan for me and she said it wasn't that big. She went on to say she was from an eggplant growing area/community and they often had much larger eggplant fruits. She makes what I think is the best eggplant parmesan ever so I think she knows what she's talking about.

BTW, it is a Black Beauty.

Another BTW, it tasted terrific. Smooth and balanced with no tartness and this is straight up no soaking.

Check out the pics and let me know what you all think.

Thanks.

Randy

p.s. Sorry for the poor picture quality/color. That camera had been knocked on the floor and has been replaced.

stormymater · June 10, 2010

yessirree bob - that's a big un! Congrats on growing it & especially with great taste to boot!

shelleybean · June 10, 2010

That's probably the biggest eggplant I've ever seen!!

Glad it was good!

Fert1 · June 10, 2010

WVTomatoMan, didn't anyone ever tell you that size doesn't matter? LOL! Looks pretty big to me. Seriously though, I like to pull my eggplants smaller, because they are less seedy and have a better quality flavor and texture. So bigger isn't necessarily better. Sounds like it tasted very good though, which is all that really matters.

roper2008 · June 11, 2010

As long as it tasted good, is all that matters. When the eggplant loses
it's shiny skin, and starts looking dull, it's too old. Looking at yours, I
probably would have picked it sooner. Looks like it has lightened in
color.

geeboss · June 11, 2010

Randy eggplant fruit looks great!!! Bet they tasted great too!.

just wish I could get one of my 4 eggplants to set fruit. All I'm getting are flowers.

George

WVTomatoMan · June 14, 2010

Thanks everyone for the feedback. It is always good to know that "it's not just me".

Quote:

Originally Posted by roper2008

As long as it tasted good, is all that matters. When the eggplant loses
it's shiny skin, and starts looking dull, it's too old. Looking at yours, I
probably would have picked it sooner. Looks like it has lightened in
color.

I guess I should have been more specific in my original post. "Sorry for the poor picture quality/color" perhaps should have read, sorry for the poor picture quality/color, the color and appearance of the eggplant was nothing like real life. In real life the color was purple, not black as it is in the picture and the appearance was shinny not dull.

I don't know very much about growing eggplant, last year was my first real attempt. I instinctively suspected that I should pick them young which I did. However, I could tell this one was going to be a big one so I let it go to full size. Once I could tell it wasn't going to get any bigger I picked it. So, it was picked within a few days of maturing to full size.

I suspect that I've had eggplant that was too old (not grown by me). There were seed issues and/or the taste was bitter. Should that ever happen to me with eggplant that I grow it would be deemed not fit for human consumption and would be put on the compost pile.

Randy

barkeater · June 14, 2010

There is an eggplant variety that some farmers in Jersey grew for processing plants that were absolutely huge. The ones I saw back in the 80's were about a foot in diameter and maybe 18" long. I couldn't believe it, they were as shiny as could be too.

When it comes to size , early to midseason you can pick them very large and they won't be seedy no matter how big. Towards the end of the season the fruit will mature at a progressively smaller size so keep that in mind when timing your harvest.

WVTomatoMan · June 15, 2010

Quote:

Originally Posted by barkeater

There is an eggplant variety that some farmers in Jersey grew for processing plants that were absolutely huge. The ones I saw back in the 80's were about a foot in diameter and maybe 18" long. I couldn't believe it, they were as shiny as could be too.

When it comes to size , early to midseason you can pick them very large and they won't be seedy no matter how big. Towards the end of the season the fruit will mature at a progressively smaller size so keep that in mind when timing your harvest.

Thank you! Now it makes sense why the person I talked about didn't think it was a big eggplant fruit.

And what you say about early, midseason, and late fruit with respect to seediness fits with my observations. Of course like I say I don't have much experience growing eggplants, but that's what it seemed like to me.

Thanks.

Randy

p.s. If you grow great veggies why are you eating bark?

beefsteak · March 18, 2011

p.s. If you grow great veggies why are you eating bark?

barkeater · March 20, 2011

Not much else out there in the winter!

barkeater is the english translation of the Indian word "Adirondack", a derogatory name the Mohawks gave the Algonquins who lived in the Adirondack Mountains year round. Since the Adirondacks are my favorite place anywhere I've been using barkeater as my handle since I got on the internet.

June 10, 2010	#3
shelleybean Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Virginia Beach Posts: 2,648	That's probably the biggest eggplant I've ever seen!! Glad it was good! __________________ Michele

June 10, 2010	#4
Fert1 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2006 Location: Upstate SC, Zone 7 Posts: 543	WVTomatoMan, didn't anyone ever tell you that size doesn't matter? LOL! Looks pretty big to me. Seriously though, I like to pull my eggplants smaller, because they are less seedy and have a better quality flavor and texture. So bigger isn't necessarily better. Sounds like it tasted very good though, which is all that really matters. __________________ Holly

June 10, 2010	#2
stormymater Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Pleasure Island, NC 8a Posts: 1,162	yessirree bob - that's a big un! Congrats on growing it & especially with great taste to boot!

June 11, 2010	#5
roper2008 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Virginia Bch, VA (7b) Posts: 1,337	As long as it tasted good, is all that matters. When the eggplant loses it's shiny skin, and starts looking dull, it's too old. Looking at yours, I probably would have picked it sooner. Looks like it has lightened in color.

June 11, 2010	#6
geeboss Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Fairfax, VA Z7 Posts: 524	Randy eggplant fruit looks great!!! Bet they tasted great too!. just wish I could get one of my 4 eggplants to set fruit. All I'm getting are flowers. George

June 14, 2010	#8
barkeater Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: NE Kingdom, VT - Zone 3b Posts: 1,439	There is an eggplant variety that some farmers in Jersey grew for processing plants that were absolutely huge. The ones I saw back in the 80's were about a foot in diameter and maybe 18" long. I couldn't believe it, they were as shiny as could be too. When it comes to size , early to midseason you can pick them very large and they won't be seedy no matter how big. Towards the end of the season the fruit will mature at a progressively smaller size so keep that in mind when timing your harvest.

March 18, 2011	#10
beefsteak Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: NW PA zone 5 Posts: 121	p.s. If you grow great veggies why are you eating bark?

March 20, 2011	#11
barkeater Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: NE Kingdom, VT - Zone 3b Posts: 1,439	Not much else out there in the winter! barkeater is the english translation of the Indian word "Adirondack", a derogatory name the Mohawks gave the Algonquins who lived in the Adirondack Mountains year round. Since the Adirondacks are my favorite place anywhere I've been using barkeater as my handle since I got on the internet.