Eggplant Starts: UPDATE (+ A Recipe!)

It has been 9 days since planting the eggplant seeds. And look!

Ah! So exciting!

Plants! They are growing!

In my last post about these starts, I showed how I was put the starts in the bathroom by the floor heater to keep them warm. Well....that didn't work. I had never used the heater in there before, and I guess it just didn't work the way I thought it would. Oh well...valiant attempt and all that.

What I ended up doing after that did work exceedingly well. I put the starts on the edge of the table I have out for the rest of my little apartment garden. Under that table is another floor heater, one that works. Heat warming the soil from before is exactly what eggplant starts love. And so far it had worked! I didn't do anything more than turn the heat on when I normally would, including turning it off entirely at night. The eggplants did not seem to mind the cold nights.

Keeping the starts in a plastic bag was a wonderful way to do this as well. It kept all the moisture in there, especially wonderful considering I was intentionally blasting the starts with hot dry air all day.

A look to the future for these adorable little babies: THIS AMAZING RECIPE!

Step 1: Cut eggplant into 1/4 inch strips.


Step 2: Fry the eggplant until slightly crispy.  Place on paper towel to drain, then arrange on a plate directly next to each other.

Step 3: Melt semi-sweet chocolate in a pan set in water. 

Step 4: Drizzle melted chocolate over the eggplant.  Do not cover eggplant entirely with chocolate (as hard as that restraint may be.)

What a strange and amazing recipe! The next step is to experiment with different kinds of chocolates to see what works best. Maybe a little bit of sea salt sprinkled on top....

I'm drooling.

Grow up healthy and tasty, little ones!