I Grew "GIANT" Eggplants From eBay To See How Big They Really Would Grow
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 29 ก.ย. 2024
- In this video, I show you how I grew GIANT eggplants at home from seed in my garden that I purchased from eBay to see how big they would grow and if they were good to eat.
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Self Sufficient Me is based on our small 3-acre property/homestead in SE Queensland Australia about 45kms north of Brisbane - the climate is subtropical (similar to Florida). I started Self Sufficient Me in 2011 as a blog website project where I document and write about backyard food growing, self-sufficiency, and urban farming in general. I love sharing my foodie and DIY adventures online so come along with me and let's get into it! Cheers, Mark :)
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#garden #gardening #plants
One of the things I love most about your channel is that you post a lot more videos of "here's how this turned out and how I did it" than "here's a new thing I'm going to try".
So many other TH-cam creators who "teach" to gardening, homesteading, and basic life skills show videos when they begin something, but not the middle stages or end results! I love that you say "here's how we got into it".
Thank you for contiuing to make wonderful videos, even through renovations and floods and all else! You're fantastic.
eBay's good. I got some Avola peas from the UK, which are tricky to come by here in the U.S. But truth be told, Etsy is my GO TO for buying seeds. I've had amazing results, both in quality and selection.
Good to know. Thank you for the heads up
Yeah Etsy really is the way to go
I bought Super Sauce tomato seeds from Etsy last year from a supposed highly rated seller, and they did not grow true. Just a large beefsteak type, not giant Roma type tomatoes.
@@adryawebb2556 I grew a cherry tomato from a store variety, it threw back to a larger variety that made excellent bolognese/ragu with minimal need for herbs/spices
Sometimes I feel like people get heirloom varieties out of store tomato seed throwbacks
I've never tried eggplant. I might give it a shot. I may even try to grow my own!
Man SSM is a great channel! Eventhou I dont live in the same area Mark has great information and through his own trial and error he's helped me more then he probably knows.
S.S.M. is in my top 10 most watched and liked channels!!
Youre like my dad. He is like you when it comes to passion about the work he done for his own. he is a worker to make streets and paths ( i am from germany and dont know the job name but i try to describe) but can build any type of things. He build my home stand alone mostly and has made a great garden full of flowers and bushes. And he plants an apple tree when i was 7. ( now i am 30)
Nice to see another beeing who has the same passion for doing things at home.
Wish i could be like you and my dad some day!
Thanks Mark! Your videos are always entertaining and informative.
Just started back w you and you haven't let us down..!!! Keep up the videos..
I am going to try and grow eggplant again. Last year they didnt do well at all. Thanks for the video!
Hi mark. May l ask why you don't eat the skin. Try thick Egg plant slices with parmesan flavoured fresh breadcrumbs added for extra taste, cooked until golden makes me drool🤗👍
You need to try Turkish Eggplant! (they are orange and the size of tomatillo, but excellent for cooking)
I've done the climbing strawberries from eBay. The actual plant has grown like crazy but over 3 months it's only fruited about 5 and they are tiny lol. I'll give it another month before cutting it down.
They fruit better second year
Hope you haven’t chopped it
@@nowirehangers2815 Yeah I did. It's too much time and effort in my hydroponic system. If it was soil base, I would have kept it going.
of cource it puches over, to spread seeds wich will grow new plants, this will happen again and again as you can see the snapped plants getting new growth and they will also snap releasing more seed
Thanks, Mark! Until I saw this video, I had not even considered growing eggplant. Now I believe I'll give it a try!
I think the way you planted them destroyed the main tap root of the plants. You never want to pull root systems apart like that. Some will survive but when the main tap root is damaged the plants struggle to up take enough nutrients and water.
lol the start of video the classic "oh gday i didnt see you there" bit
Looks delish, Mark.
I'm trying the long, skinny ones (Lol) this year.
Yeah Mark, its a pleasure to see a wonderful human being, a good man, sharing his knowledge and being as a whole as God intended. Heaven Truly will be so amazing with so many wonderful people and extraordinary gardens to have fun designing greater than all the people. I really love it when people find the reward of a garden and what it does for not just our health but our knowledge of interconnectedness, our spirit and the feeling we know God is near, feeling His blessing and thanking him for the seeds that only He can make grow. Its meant to be wonderful and it is so. Much more than we often see on the surface. I have long said if you love to garden you also don’t need a gym membership. Great workout And the movements work all the muscles pushing and pulling not to mention the needed brain power that goes into lots of bio-organic chemistry, environmental studies of cause and effect, Structural engineering, creative beauty, genetics and pollination consideration, crop planning, economics, math, plant and animal and insect symbiotic relationships, patience, humility, joy, hope, disappointment, love and more. When God said on the 8th day that he looked around and saw that he needed a “special” “man” to til the ground talking about “the farmer” there’s no doubt the interest he gave them to know a little to alot about everything to achieve it was necessary and the typical farmer fits the bill. Small time farming has truly given me an incredible respect for all of the real farmers out there all throughout history who combine all the types of animals we can have around us with varied crops and never cease their thoughts and energy for such things. The garden/farm big or small is a learning mecca for all ages with true discipline at its greatest levels for all the things that “must” be done to ensure the good health of all the life one cares for and cant do without great love…love for animals and insects, and every plant, the sunshine and the rain, the days a few clouds are nice for newly planted seedlings, and everything that God has taught us to understand in the word of the World and age we live only if we understand the actions of farming including the pests and the weeds and its interconnectedness to achieving the end we hope for as much as God loves and hopes for us and reveals it to us especially when we live a little in the garden . Huge continued Blessings always and Thank you!
Mark, I grew a couple plants last year. They did okay but until then I never ate egg plant so I'm still learning how to cook it. Thanks for the vid.
G'day Dennis, there are many ways to prepare eggplant - one of my favourites is marinated Italian style (not cooked at all) preserved in olive oil and served with fresh crusty bread. I make it all the time and it's a winner at parties. Cheers :)
Omg I opened my mouth when you got up to come to the camera with that piece lol !!!
I have grown egg plants in the garden, because they are pretty when growing. I am wondering, do your raised beds ever get full of soil after years of use? I use raised bed, but aren't as old as your beds.
Dude I love all your work and even if I wasn't a keen gardener looking for tips, I'd still tune in for the amazing Dad jokes lol.
1:00 Righto mate lets fucken get into it im pumped
6:49 you could play rugby with that thing
I hereby thank the almighty algorythm for bringing me to this lovely channel, I will be sure to watch more!
You had my wife in hysterics watching this video. The whole 13 mins. 🤣
compared to the supermarket varieties, it's GINORMOUS!! XD
Now I'm hungry for eggplant!
Good on you Mark,
You've done so well with your channel, I've been watching since you've had 9k subscribers and now you have over 1.5 million 😀 technically I'm subscribed on 3 different phones that's how many phones I've gone through watching you, and I'll probably go through 10 more
(Lol it sounds like I'm blaming you, but i'm not)
Anyway if your reading this mark I hope you have a great day
Thanks mate! It certainly has been a long and amazing ride here on TH-cam and I will always appreciate you and all those who are kind enough to take the time to subscribe and watch my content. Cheers :)
Gotta love those black strawberries!
man you got a nice spirit
Eggplant needs TONS of sunshine.
Wouldn't it be easier and more effective to start the seeds in separate cups instead of letting them all root together and need tearing apart? That's how I do it anyway.
I bought some rainbow butterfly bush seeds. They grew into carrots lol
Wow very good.
Love the dad joke! 🤣
"Auber-genie"
*groans audibly*
*clicks the like button*
Where do I find the huge galvanized raised beds you use. I am in Canada, retired and would love to supply veg. to our local food bank.
well...ordered "blue" strawberry seeds once...never made it past customs....they said "GMO" and "NO"...lol...guess its better this way
I have grown black beauty eggplant many times , its common in USA , I have to wonder about the color . mine have always been very dark . could the seeds be a hybrid or a ph issue? I have found them very susetable to bugs and pests in my area ( north east Oklahoma - very hot and humid ) but they did get huge.
I was wondering whether the seller of these aubergine seeds wasn't perceiving "giant" fruits relative to other varieties of eggplants. Some of them are actually quite small, such as the Japanese eggplants with their fruits (white -skinned) which look like eggs (eggplant is said to have originated in Asia, is my understanding, and got its name from these egg-shaped, white-skinned fruits which looked like eggs growing from the plant.)
An African variety, "Burkina Faso aubergine" is small-fruited, if I remember correctly, but so very bitter at maturity that it must be picked and used while still green; hard to imagine that it has any fans but evidently it has. Grown as an *ornamental* it's quite a handsome plant, very tall and dramatic and quite striking with its deep bronze foliage and the fruits turning a bright, deep red-orange as they mature.
An Egg-celent vid.
And now I got the munchies for fried eggplant. Dang it
PLEASE!!! Find a way to send this to Gordan Ramsey!!!!Get him on ur farm 🤣🤣 it would be a hell of a video. Awesome stuff taught me not to just burn all my yard waste.👍👍👍
Much bigger than ones we get at our grocery stores. Wouldn't try try those strawberries. 🙊
I'm growing a type called aswad. They are an Iraq type that grow big but they're more squat. I wonder if yours are a cross between black beauty and that type.
My library just got rid of their seed bank :(
4:17 normally 🥜 LOL
Clicking "Like" in spite of the auber-genie joke. LOL jk Thank you for the good video.
Good morning to you
Disclaimer: No Bigfoot's were harmed or offended in the making of this video!
Try Murray River pink salt instead of that foreign rubbish.
There really are white strawberries though!
10:19 taste test
Mark this should be a new series of growing these scam plants from seed 🤣
I would always see these sellers with crazy plants, always wondered if they where just clickbaiting, good to know that not everyone does.
Please bring us along when you save the seeds. That would be a good skill to learn. Congratulations on your lovely eggplants! ~ Lisa
Just put the seeds on a warm place for some days and they're ready to be stored.
It’s very simple luckily, just take the seeds out of anything carefully. I clean off any membrane or flesh from the fruit you took it from, then dry the seeds out in a dry place like by the window and then you can store them or plant them. If you store them put them in a little paper envelope or something so they can still get air to the seeds, don’t use plastic.
@@TommyTucker091 Yes, it is simple, luckily. However, on some plants saving the seed is not as straightforward as on others and it would be useful to see how it is done. Some of us are visual learners who benefit from watching as opposed to reading how a particular task is accomplished. I've saved lots of seed from various plants, but never eggplant. So, I would watch a video, especially one made by Mark, that shows us how. I'm sure you understand. ~ Lisa
@@LB-vl3qn Yeah but saving seeds from eggplants is so simple (comparable to pepper seeds) that a video about it would'nd last longer than 1 minute...
Maybe Marc will make a video about saving seeds from different vegetables. That would make more sense i think.
@@reinhardvomschmied293 Well, since you're so experienced and well-educated on the topic, you can give that video a miss. Really not sure why you're making such a fuss over it, but that's your issue, not mine. Good day.
Look on the bottom, (blossom end) of the fruit, there will either be an oval, or a round dimple. The oval are bitter and need to be pressed or salted, but I always just removed those as soon as I could see the shape. It made the better fruit grow larger. I have never seen eggplant cooked as you did. Only dipped in egg, then seasoned flour, egg again and breadcrumbs and never ever unpeeled. they are then parmesan'd, or layered in a lasagna. Eggplant is a meat substitute.
>> Tom's Ukrainian/American wife Pam
The small one is actually bigger (diameter wise) than the average size of eggplants sold in my country.
I was thinking the same thing. When he was saying they weren't that big, I was thinking..."Are you kidding". I was also stunned at the number of seeds each fruit produced. Wow!!!
Not here they are the same size as his but a lil smaller.........cos I live in Australia too 😅
Where do you live? I find generally it's quite mixed and stores vary. I've seen some quite small sizes aubergines but in other places they're probably on average roughly the size of his small one give or take. That said though I've been noticing that some vegetables have been getting smaller, I hadn't been into a supermarket for at least half a decade maybe a bit longer than that and I noticed that the broccoli and cauliflower are at least half the size that I remember them being.
NE FL USA...I thought they were unusually wide/thick as well. They'll get longer here, but I don't think I have ever seen any that thick.
There's likely a difference between what is sold and what you could grow. I have grown potatoes up to 2Kg.
Lol Mark. An aubergeni classic. Seems they were normal black beauty seed to me
Yea my black beauties were massive and i let one go fully yellow to get seeds from it even tho i still have the original seed packet full ! 🤠
Very likely the standard Black Beauty Tony, yes - I was hoping though lol... Cheers mate :)
@@Selfsufficientme Keep the seed from the largest and try and push its size, it may have carried forward in the genetics and see if you can push it from there. Black beauty isn't F1 so your good to go mate :)
Would have been nice to see them grow beside a “regular” black beauty eggplant. That way we see the difference in size grown in the same conditions. (Also to see if the regular one would’ve fared well against the flood rains)
I got a giant black beauty eggplant for u
Baker Creek heirloom seeds Mansfield Missouri has truly amazing things that you may never find anywhere else and you can regrow them all from seed, very reputable company
👍👍
I agree. Never had problems with Baker Creek. Good Varity and service.
Their catalog arrived last month. They have some amazing stuff!
I have two eggplant seedlings growing! I ll be basically deliriously happy if i ll get one small fruit of each one 😂 this cold Finnish climate just is not very good for those plants.. not even if grown in a polytunnel. but lets see 🍆🍆🍆 wish me luck 😁
Good luck! I'm hoping for a warm Finland this coming season :)
@@Selfsufficientme thank you 😄
I would love to see more Ebay experiments. Even though I do not care for eggplant, much too bitter for me, I enjoyed this video.
Did you salt the eggplant before cooking? Eggplant is a staple where I live…especially fried eggplant…but we were always taught to salt them before cooking…waiting about 30 minutes and then rinse and continue whatever cooking method you prefer.
@@cakedreamer85 Thank-you for this tip. I have not liked the taste before, but will give it another try done your way!
Modern varieties have mostly had the bitterness bred out of them; as Mark mentioned when he tasted these, even the most mature one was sweet. I haven't tasted a bitter eggplant in thirty years, whether from the garden or the grocery.
@@chezmoi42 Yeah, I am a super taster. I have a much more enhanced sense of smell and taste then most people. It is a genetic condition. For example, I can pick out individual ingredients and spices in a dish because I can taste them all. I can smell things from a very long distance away. And I can tell you that eggplants are still bitter. Beer is one of the most bitter and disgusting things that anyone can put in their mouths. So yeah, eggplants are still bitter, but most people have a limited sense of taste and smell. Lucky you that you don't have this issue and things are not bitter for you.
Some varieties have no bitterness, trying Chinese String this year.
Lol this is awesome. I always wonder who sees those photos photoshoped strawberries and buys them lol
You'd be surprised by how stupid people can be.
I wonder who sells them! How can they look at themselves in the mirror lol...
@@LaNoir. or trusting. ?
No kidding, we have white strawberries at my grocery store.
@@lelleithmurray235 i saw the white strawberries this year. They called them pineberries as they supposedly taste a bit like pineapple. I almost bought some as I've grown many strawberries from seed and figured maybe I'd just grow them but at $6.99 a half pound it was out of my budget.
I used to have small yellow strawberries
Grown ftom seeds. They are the bunching alpine types -very sweet. But more of a whitish yellow with hint of pink.
I'd say go for it if you want to try from seeds. They need light for. germination
cool video, I'm always a bit cautious about buying seeds online. Would be cool to see more videos testing seeds you bought off the internet
I just stick with what I know I haven't bought online but want to grow a ton of death level chili's
The price is usually pretty low and its kinda exciting to see what you got so its worth a go if you've got room to spare.
I'll happily let someone else do that, and keep buying my seeds from reputable dealers or people I actually know. (Best of all is saving seeds you know do well, of course.)
I do not have time to waste on mystery seeds. Quality seeds are just not that expensive, and you'll know exactly what you're getting.
@@dogslobbergardens6606 One of the issues here is that many commercial seed growers are from a slightly different climate, so buying online from a grower in the same climate as you often produces more vigorous plants. Most online sellers on places like eBay (that are in the same country as you) are just backyard growers like us anyway, and once you get your first few reliable plants off them you know what you're getting. Buying from an unknown seller online is no different to buying seeds in person from a place you are unfamiliar with, there's nothing inherently wrong with buying online. But if you don't have the time or space to experiment then that's a reasonable enough argument, it's just that most of us find that kind of experimentation as one of the most interesting parts of gardening!
I got tomato seeds from my old uncle this year. He warned me they would get big and would need lots of support but I thought he might have been exaggerating a bit. He wasn't! They came in over a kilo. I weighed the biggest on my Instagram yesterday and it came in at 1137g. They're massive tomatoes. Can't wait to grow them again next year.
Wow...Cool! Well done! Family shared heirloom seeds - ya can't beat that. All the best :)
If you don’t send a few seeds to mark are you really a fan?
@@dylanzrim3635 true
@@Selfsufficientme if you want some to try, happy to share a few seed. they truly are monsters and you do need a big support system for them. I had to make slings for the fruit as they were too heavy for the plant and kept breaking the branches.
I use concrete reinforcing wire to make cages for my tomatoes. Tough steel construction and 6 foot tall, over a meter and and a halfish?
Takes time and my brother to roll it out, cut them with wire cutters and wrap them around. And my tomatoes still overtop them by almost a meter anyway.
Love growing eggplants! And for fried eggplant, summac is the best thing to sprinkle
Its been a year since I was tuned in (busy year), you have either lost weight or just got healthier in general. When you said you would be saving the seeds and growing them again I started applauding for some reason. I guess I just love seed saving, and happy you liked the eggplant too.
diy heirloom is the only real heirloom. 3 generations!!
Thanks for tuning in John! And I appreciate your compliment too but to be honest, I could lose a few more KGs I am slowly getting back into my exercise so hopefully, this is making a difference. Cheers :)
@@Selfsufficientme get into it mate, we got your back 💪
He looks great, right.
I love your videos! So glad I found this channel, can't wait to get out of college and start my own garden! Also idk if you've heard of the North American PawPaw, but it's supposed to be a delicious fruit but difficult to cultivate. I'd love to see you try and grow and them!!
Thank you and I will do some research on the PawPaw! Cheers :)
I've tried a few times to grow pawpaws. A freind of mine (well online friend ) sent me fruit and seeds many years ago and none of the seeds grew or even lasted. I do think quite a few seeds were stolen/eaten by critters.
I'd love to buy a couple trees but the price is way out of my range.
Its an odd flavor but good. Like a mix of banana/mango/custard and this doesn't quite do it justice.
Unless someone's already brought them to Australia i'd think there would be huge restrictions on importing the plants. Australia has had huge problems with invasive species being introduced 😥
I had a farmer tell me that the purple eggplant is unripened and the yellowing eggplant (that you called older) was actually ripe eggplant. I’m not partial either way but always thought that was interesting. He said the same for cucumbers that the yellowing/orange ones are ripened while the green are not ripe….this farmer preferred the ripe cucumber did not like green cucumber.
Interesting information I had never heard before -or after meeting that guy.
Love your channels. From Peoria AZ!
Verrry interesting!
True about the cuke, but yellowing marks the ripening of the seeds, and kills the vine it is on. The texture of the cukes also changes - kind of like greens that bolt.
Oooh, you use the same pan as I do, can really recommend them, mine is 10 years old and still looks like new. Better buy expensive once than cheap every few months
For maximum size (it's true for almost all veggies) just pinch the top to prevent new growth, and keep only 3 fruits max. For record pumpkins, farmers keep only one fruit per plant. Of course they taste bland when you do that. I tried one to pinch the top of my tomato plants, to have only a few fruits on them. You do get bigger fruits, but the taste is diluted, so why bother. It's just for show.
Yeah, I'd rather several 20 different varieties of tomatoe, than 20 plants of the same variety with 3 or 4 big Tom's per plant.
Very interesting Nicolas! Thanks for sharing your knowledge :)
@@Selfsufficientme to get the biggest fruit, leave only one per plant. World champion pumpkin growers do that. Works for all plants. Also, most viable seeds are in the fist developing fruit (most genetic information). cheers dude
So good to see you Mark. Food prices are going through the roof here in Virginia USA so I am doubling the size of my garden this year. I just want to let you know how much easier what I've learned from all your videos is making it. Made me laugh to see an eggplant video. Just yesterday I was just telling my friend who likes grilled veggies she should try grilling eggplant. I'll have to send her this video.
Thanks Angela, and it seems you "getting into it" has paid off because the Victory Gardens of the past will probably turn into the Inflation Gardens of the future! Yes, grilled eggplant is also one of my favs. Cheers :)
I'm in Virginia, USA too and I was curious to see if Mark's eggplants get holes eaten through the leaves of the plant. Mine get destroyed by bugs every year and it looks like his do too! I am also doubling my garden this year, just planted potatoes, turnips, and spinach today. Also, thanks to Mark's videos, I assembled my first four metal raised beds this week and can't wait to "get into them"!
@@dirtroad5637 How exciting! Your back will thank you. Virginia does have it's share of bugs, I think it's the humidity. Do you know what the bug is? I was wanting to grow them too, even before I saw Mark's video.
@@angelachouinard4581 I just did a bit of research and learned the holes in the eggplant's leaves are caused by a 1/4 inch long black bug called the eggplant flea beetle.
In Virginia as well. I've been working on seed saving the last couple years. Also hoping to grow all of my produce I need for the year this year.
I bought and grew chocolate colored bell peppers and yes they looked just like milk chocolate all the way through and tasted like a normal bell. . Was odd eating them though, like eating green ketchup, or maybe like eating a blue strawberry 😛, just a mind thing. They looked pretty good on the plant but not very appetizing cut up on a plate. Glad your seeds turned out well.
LOL... I've never grown them either but now I want to give them a go too! Cheers :)
@@Selfsufficientme choc caps taste more like green ones, less like reds
Or a waffle that happens to be blue
I’m starting some choc-Moruga scorpion chilli soon, brown hot sauce here I come
Choc capsicums are sweeter to
Hey Mark, I love eggplant and my Mom would cook it all the time when I was young. That big one was the normal size for us in California. We lived in a big farming county in Southern California so there was always a supply of inexpensive fruit and vegetables.
Mom would slice them the same way you did but she would beat up some eggs and soak it in that and have a mixture of flour, pepper and other spices. Then cook the them until the they were a golden brown. It was one of my favorite foods and anytime I cook it I am reminded of my Mom.
Sounds like a recipe to try, mate! Thank You!
Your "small one" is the usual size we get in the supermarket in the Netherlands.
I am growing "normal" and baby aubergine plants myself.
Hope I will get the same success as you
I wonder if you could prune all but one or two off a plant like pumpkins to get them to grow larger?
I just gave this video, a big eggplant thumbs up!!
Please show how you saved the seeds and show how those grow with your adjustments (staking, fertlizer) next year. Eggplant, thumbs-up (don't have emojis right now).
You cheered me up again!
And again, I learned a lot.
Thank you!
🔆
Well, here in my area of Texas, our stores bring in the smaller eggplants. It's rare we get eggplants that large. However I remember back at home with my mom in another area of Texas that the eggplants were larger than here. Those do look pretty big still, but I won't eat them either way. Not a fan. I might grow some for my chickens though.
My wife grew Japanese eggplant last summer and it was by far the best eggplant I ever had.
They are tasty
Good video Mark, and like getting to see a taste test. I grew up with the 'old' eggplants that would get bitter so fast in hot weather that salt, milk, nothing could make them taste good. After watching this I might give eggplant a try again.
In my experience, growing eggplant in WA-Kalgoorlie got a bit tricky as well. Too hot, too dry, soil is crap. Solved it with; planting in end of January + 10L of cow manure for 5 plants, water twice a day. As a result we have constant supply of great tasting eggplant fruit from start of April.
I’ve never tried eggplant but honestly I’m thinking about it now because of how much he enjoyed eating them.
From the very little experience I had, plus what Mark suggested, give the plants enough soil to grow in.
I grew my first plant in a small pot, and the plant wasn't too healthy and I only got small fruits
Is that eggplant a hybrid or heirloom? Just wondering if the seeds will produce same eggplant?
It is supposed to be an heirloom. Seed saved at home from the seller's own garden. Cheers :)
Hey! Just wanted to say I've really been enjoying the channel! I have a small garden at my house and you've inspired me to grow food!
Thank you! And all the best with your garden - you can grow a ton in small spaces! Cheers :)
Black Beauty Aubergines are my go-to aubergines in South Africa (and also by far the most commonly available). Are these a special giant version, or is "giant" just part of the marketing? The "ordinary Black Beauty" ones we grow definitely also need solid staking, and grow fruit of similar size to the ones in this video. (Edited typos.)
G'day Ansie, I have a feeling that these aubergines are just the standard Black Beauty but I was hoping for an improved larger version. Having said that, I still think I can do better and grow bigger so next season I'll be getting into it! Cheers :)
You should buy the coloured strawberry seeds from ebay, you'll get red strawberrys of course but what if they did end up blue haha
I think I saw a video where someone tried to grow them and they were not even strawberries
Mark! You just made me want to plant this veggie that I have resisted for few years, especially seeing you cook and eat 😋! By the way, I noticed your right forearm is much more muscular than the left, from the hard work in the garden, or because of the camera angle? I had own experience when I played tennis!
I wasn't kidding about the taste - they are really good (most modern varieties of eggplant are) and last night I used the rest in an Italian inspired stew with onion and bacon in a passata sauce with herbs. My right arm is bigger yes, probably from work, tennis, and the injury to my forearm making the muscles compensate and grow larger. All the best :)
@@Selfsufficientme Your wife has to be a very happy one! I also enjoy your cooking videos very much, so as your lovely kitchen! Thank you for all the teaching, Mark!🙏👍🤗🌻🌾🌱
Thank you Mark for this video. I Love your videos! They are so REAL & Relatable~ I'm still renting a condo, so no place to grow; but I'm looking to find property where I can. I spent the first 45 yrs. of my life living on a FARM. Looking forward to getting back to my roots~ Yes, I share your videos with everyone I know. Blessings to All~
I love eggplant and watching you eat those without making nasty faces was an absolute pleasure! 🤣 I love watching your garden grow since I don't live where I can have one. 😍
Thank you and I hope you soon live somewhere where you can have a garden. All the best :)
Actulally Mark, the white strawberry with red seeds that is on the lower right corner at 0:31 is a real variety. I've seen people grow it here in France ;) It produces very little and is very delicate but apparently they taste very good
Eggplants are like sponges when it comes to soaking in oil during "frying/sauteing". A healthier way is to lightly brush them with olive oil, dust them with salt and pepper, then bake them until tender. They taste even better, and it cuts the oil by 90%.
Or use healthy oils...
Or eat something else 😂
Good idea Carol! Thanks!
I don't even like eggplants, but seeing you grow them from those seeds was impressive! Too bad about the stalks snapping, but glad they turned out.
Mark, The thing I really find to be of extra worth in your videos is that even if I don't fancy eating some of the veggies you present I find it to be extremely rewarding to watch how you grow them.
One thought I came up with refers to statements you have mentioned from time to time about saving seeds. While some seeds are quite easy to save and plant / grow some are a bit dodgy. Is there a chance you might craft a future video on saving seeds for next year planting?
Cheers. - Joe S - Idaho / Alaska
Yeah Mawk I think you are on the right track with giving them extra feedings next time :) I have noticed that eggplants that are underfed make the fruits as wide as they want, and then not quite as long. just a hunch but they should get same width but longer if they get extra feedings
Thanks for the feedback and for sharing your observations - I'll definitely feed them more next season. Cheers :)
@@Selfsufficientme Cheers back and thanks for all the wonderful stuff going on in my backyard, my garden started getting better in 2018 when I found your channel :)
Do you have any plans to do any other giant vegetables? There’s a giant bread of cabbage out of Alaska- might be to hot in your climate for it though.
Yeah Anthony, giant cabbage might be difficult but I would like to try. I did try and grow a giant watermelon but this season was too humid and they perished. Like I said in the video, I'm a sucker for experimenting with new (to me) veggies and fruits so I will no doubt be seeking and growing anything big and unusual for many years to come. Cheers :)
That's the kind of eggplant I grew up with and always thought was the "standard" type when I was a kid. They cook well, are not bitter at all (not even the skin), and can be used in a wide range dishes.
0:48. Cobber that is the worst Photoshop of a hand ever!!! Have a go at the mits on that skinny little guy..
If is really that big than dam man your girlfriend is one happy chappy. 🤔
Great video again mate how is the top of the hill this winter❄️❄️
Awesome to see a new full sized gardening vid :) I'm in Canada and excited for warmer weather around the corner
your very inspiring mark, keep up the good work!