Right Soil Might Flavor Thai Eggplant

Earlier this month, my wife and I traveled to New Braunfels to celebrate a friend’s birthday.

We were headed toward Seguin on our way back home when we noticed a little nursery on the side of the road just north of Clear Springs. They were open, so we stopped in to take a look around.

The place was called Thai-T Nursery. Most of the plants they had in stock were ornamentals. But tucked away to the side of one of the greenhouses sat about a dozen Thai eggplants in two gallon pots. They were quite large, and all were bearing fruit. They looked very healthy, so I bought a pair. My wife picked out a little lamb’s ear plant from one of their greenhouses. We walked away $23 poorer than we arrived.

Thai eggplants are quite different from the eggplants most folks in Texas are used to growing. They have smaller leaves and produce copious green fruits about the size of a plump grape. To cook, you simply cut in half (no need to peel) and stir fry. They also go well in Thai curries.

The day after I bought them, I harvested about a dozen fruits off the two plants before I even put them in the ground. I stir fried the eggplants last Monday night with some garlic, fish sauce, hot chili peppers and a few cherry tomatoes. The eggplants themselves seemed a little bland – the dish definitely needed the bold sauce I made. They did possess the lovely slight bitterness common to many Asian vegetables. I think the blandness was

I think the blandness was due to the way they were growing – in two gallon pots. Most vegetables taste better when they grow in the ground. I planted them in a bed from which I recently harvested onions. I added a little Medina Growin’ Green organic fertilizer to the bottom of the hole along with a handful of epsom salt. I always fill the hole with water before planting whenever I transplant large plants like these. I then placed about two or three inches of mulch around the plants.

From now on, they are receiving my normal organic treatment – liquid seaweed foliar spray and molasses tea soil drench every week to 14 days. I’m excited to see what they taste like now that they are in the ground.