I don’t like Aubergines. Mama H does. Dad does. Me. I can’t stand them. So when I wanted to grow them, raise them from seed; I was feeling altruistic and egalitarian all at the same time. So they started off life, in the heated propogator. The seeds took their time, in fact I may have inadvertently actually snuffed some out in a haze of naivete. Those that did turn up, became those you see above. There were a number of different varieties in this particular experiment

• tres native de barbentane
• dancer
• early long

A few others, I forget now!

But they didn’t have take their time. They had to be the most pampered, precious plants the world has known. Thanks to Grandad Mike, they were fed, watered and tickled. As tou can see, there was a lot of foliage. They didn’t leave the utility room; the sun was able to nurture them. Despite the one variety meant to be quite used to the elements, after last years experiment with Kevin, yes, Kevin the moody aubergine. This year was going to be different.

The flowers produced were really quite pretty. These were misted and tickled, and still nothing.Not a single aubergine. This could have been down to any one of many things. Perhaps they were pot bound, fed too much, didn’t like the not so tropical environment. I am not at all sure as to which variable caused it all to be such a disappointment. Perhaps I will try again, they seem to grow. Just not fruit. We shall see!

Yours in anticipation

Horticultural Hobbit