I planted some eggplant seeds in a garden bed recently. I think they’re starting to grow. Then again, I have no idea what an eggplant seedling looks like so I’m not sure.
It could be anything.
The garden is at the back of a rental property on the south coast of New South Wales, about 2 hours south of Sydney, Australia. The soil is generally fertile in a region famous for dairy farming and viticulture, although the garden had been stripped of much of its nutrients when I moved in, courtesy of the previous tenant’s neglect and a dry winter. The garden attracts quite a lot of sun, during very warm summer months and even during colder winter months in what is typically a temperate climate. The area is also famous for beaches and surfing, which is great after a day of hard yakka in the garden.
It makes sense that it’s eggplant, although I discovered some other plants growing in another garden bed recently which were not at all like the plants I had intended to grow. One little shoot popped up in my potato and silverbeet bed and I think it may actually be a grevillea. The seed was most likely transplanted into the soil from the leaves and garden debris I raked up and placed on top of the garden bed as mulch.
With that in mind, I’ve since changed the mulch on this garden bed. In the photo above, the mulch is leaves and twigs, but I removed that (and put most of it in my compost bin) and replaced the leaves with grass clippings. I find the grass clippings are generally an effective mulch.
I’m hoping the little shoot in the photo is eggplant and that I’ll soon be sourcing eggplant recipes.
P.S. Sorry about the title Bill, but that’s revenge for being dragged reluctantly through interpretations of your plays and sonnets throughout highschool.
kieranblakewriter 