Aubergines 2022

Our greenhouse crops are having a very good year with bumper harvests from the tomatoes, cucumbers and chillies. There are plenty of peppers on the way and aubergines too. I picked the first of the aubergines today from one of the plants that have been planted directly into the greenhouse bed and which are more advanced than the pot grown aubergines.

Aubergines need a longish growing season to give the fruits time enough to grow and ripen. This means sowing the seeds in early February and then looking after the seedlings until it is safe enough to plant them out into a greenhouse. I usually eventually pot them on to 8" pots and generally they do quite well like this, although you need to ensure that they are well watered and the pots don't dry out. In a heatwave that means at least twice a day watering. This year I also planted three plants into the greenhouse bed and they have got away more vigorously, perhaps because they have extra moisture and a bigger root run.

We rather like the way Sue, who leads a quiet life in Suffolk, prepared hers and will give that a try.