Some day, far in the future, I will own a greenhouse stuffed full of aubergine and pepper plants. But at the moment, I own a warm, sunny balcony where I grow my tender veg with varying levels of success. One of the real winners this year has been the aubergine ‘Baby belle’. Normally, aubergines need to be under glass if they are going to thrive. But I am nothing if not determined, and I so I decided to grow ‘Baby belle’ so I could still enjoy one of my favourite crops.
‘Baby belle’ is a dwarf cultivar, which makes it perfect for pots and patios. It also produces small fruits which are swift to ripen. I planted this out in garden compost with chopped comfrey leaves mixed together. Once the flowers appeared, I fed with comfrey tea weekly. And then the dark, sultry fruits began to appear.
And now our first mini-aubergine is ready to harvest, perhaps for a pasta sauce with some of our homegrown tomatoes, or a moussaka. You can tell aubergines are ready for the kitchen when they are plump, happy looking (admittedly this is less quantifiable), with a shiny skin. Don’t be tempted to leave too long on the plant: an old aubergine is a bitter aubergine.
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