Harvesting Eggplant & Transplanting Brassicas

Village Farm Team,

Our next succession of eggplant is just starting to yield enough fruit for us to harvest. We’re growing “Nadia”, a black Italian variety and “Orient Charm”, an Asian variety. Orient Charm produces long, slender eggplants that range in color from light to bright purple with a blush of white at the stem end. They have a tender texture and delicate flavor and are perfect for adding to curries! We’ll have them available for you at the veggie wagon this Saturday from 8am to noon.

We transplanted our first succession of brassicas last week! This succession was made up of a couple of different varieties of kale, cauliflower, and broccoli. So far they are doing well despite the persistent heat. We commonly use the term brassica to refer to all members of the genus Brassica grown on the farm such as kale, cabbage, cauliflower, and broccoli. All of these crops are cultivars of wild cabbage (Brassica oleracea) and were selected for and cultivated over many years based on certain preferences. For instance, preferring to eat only the leaves led to the process of saving and planting only those seeds from plants with the best leaf production. Over time, this gave us what we know today as kale and collards.

Our fall succession of tomatoes and peppers is doing well and beginning to set blooms. We even noticed a few small peppers beginning to grow among our shishitos! Since peppers are relatively fast growing compared to the tomato varieties that we are growing, you can expect to see the first pepper harvest in the next few weeks. We have a mix of sweet and hot peppers growing that will go well with fall dishes like chili, stew, and soup.