It's been so hot this summer (How...hot...is it?)...anyway, it's been so hot this summer that this early eggplant fruited in record time, even before the tomatoes. This is the eggplant hybrid 'Purple Blush'. The days-to-maturity figure listed for this variety is 62 days (why not 61? or 63?), but it's been only about 6 weeks since it was transplanted into the raised beds. This beautiful little specimen has an all-natural gloss (no paraffin required!), but pricks the unwary with tiny sharp thorns at the base of its stem.
This eggplant is said to have a mild, sweet flavor. I'd like to try it in eggplant pakoras, if I can find a recipe that doesn't require 768 ingredients, 99% of which consist of spices and condiments that can't be found in my cupboards. Don't get me wrong; Indian food is my favorite non-Western cuisine, but when I weigh the prospect of "hours in the kitchen with the mise-en-place spilling off the counters" against "hop in the car to the lunch buffet at Maharajah five minutes away", there's not much of a contest.
Newly blooming: Liatris spicata (blazing star); Dracocephalum moldavicum (dragonshead); Hydrangea paniculata 'Grandiflora' (PeeGee hydrangea); Celosia plumosa (self-sown); Coreopsis rosea (pink coreopsis); Papaver rhoeas (Shirley poppy).
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