I have only grown it once. I tried OP 'diamond' and a hybrid from Johnny's, Galine. Well I THINK that Galine caught bacterial wilt and so I don't know If I like it, but diamond did okay. Certainly NOT shoulder height, maybe ankle... This year Im giving it another go along with another hybrid, this time from Tomato Growers called 'Satin Moon." I might throw Galine back in there too just to see if it's any better this year. Im also doing some in containers to see if that helps, like it does for peppers.

I really like eggplant, but I just don't really know what to di with it besides parmesean, Barb's recipe sounds good though! Assuming it pans out for me I will give it a try.

I have grown Ichiban, Listada de Gandia, Pingtung and Rosa Bianca. All are stunningly beautiful, especially the purple and white striations of both Listada and Rosa Bianca. Each variety has done very well for me over the past 4 seasons - the longer and more slender Ichiban and Pingtung produced anywhere from 50-80 fruits per plant; the other two somewhere around 20-25 per. Interestingly enough, I do not like eggplant, but the plants and fruit are beautiful. I did make parm several times and enjoyed it fine with enough sauce and cheese, but the texture gets me every time. Listada and Rosa Bianca have gnarly thorns on the stem end, so be very careful. They can prick with little warning and are extremely sharp.

I am foregoing eggplant this season because I need to tone the garden down a bit. I overdid it last season and it got a bit overwhelming. I am hoping this season's smaller and more purposeful garden will encourage me to organize a little better and have a larger garden again next season.

More purposeful this year so that it may be larger in 2018! I like that thinking and Wow! so many fruits per plant!

I liked Pingtung and thought they we especially attractive. DW didn't. It surprises me because green in more than okay with her. I guess that when one has multiple choices that (an unwarranted ;o) bias is likely to surface.

But, it's like, 30 years ago - I might have thought that a tomato must be red and an eggplant must be purple. I guess that there are still some things like that - green eggs and ham for breakfast. Maybe, I can eat something green for breakfast. Maybe, maybe not ...

Steve

I only grow three varieties anymore--and every year! They've already been mentioned above! I grow Rosa Bianca, Listada de Gandia, and Galine. All three can be EASILY cooked, quickly, by just peeling them, cubing them, and then sauteing them in HOT olive oil! They don't get "mushy" like "other" varieties like Diamond and Black Beauty do, but they can still be used for all the recipes you'd use with the "regular" ones, like eggplant parmesan, or just plain breaded and fried eggplant. I LOVE that those three varieties stay "firm" and tender. When you just saute them they brown nicely, and I just add salt, but you could add any spice or herb you're in love with. When I have them I often just "fry up" a whole eggplant and that's dinner--sometimes with homemade oatmeal bread! Yum! Wish I had one now! (I'm hungry!)

Rosa is a pink/lavender white combination, and round, Listada is a lavender/purple white combination, and oblong, and Galine is just plain purple and oblong. I pick them all when they're "small," usually no more than about 5 (or 6) inches. I grow all three varieties just in case there's a "crop failure" of one of them any year--and I do often have "better results" with one or two varieties than the other(s). They all "cook" the same, and with the three of them I know for sure I'll get some "good ones!"

I'm hungry!

Skybird

Well shoot!

I had hoped that I could say something about Apple Green. David52 suggested it as something I could grow - and grow, it did. ... except the seeds are too old in 2017 ...

They are still available from a good number of seed catalogs, which probably indicates that Apple Green has a "fan following" after being around since 1964. I think it is especially useful and wish I wasn't still trying to use the 2011 seed!

The Rolecks section in the garden may be in trouble this year, also. That variety is about the strongest of my eggplants but the 2015 seed isn't sprouting and throwing off its seed shell very well! An Asian and a good size green eggplant, Rolecks ... this, despite it having an "alternative spelling" of the name of a Swill watch manufacturer.

Another weird name is Shoya and I've got a good number of those Asian long purples to go with the Epics.

Steve

My husband is the veggie gardener in the family, and I don't think he's ever grown eggplant in our garden. I temporarily hijacked most of his garden as a shrub/perennial storage area while we were making major revisions to our yard a few years ago, but this year I cleared it all out so he can grow a full garden in it again.

Thanks for the eggplant information; I'm going to pass it on to him in hopes that we can grow eggplant this year! I love eggplant parmesan, though it takes me hours (and seems to take every bowl, dish, and pan in the house) to make it, so we usually end up using eggplant to make baba ganoush.