Seed Savers Organic Diamond Eggplant

Known for excellent texture and flavor, this variety bears dark-purple eggplants with green-tinted flesh that are 9" long and 3" in diameter. The fruits are borne in clusters of four to six on 2'-tall plants, disease-resistant, and rarely bitter. Seed Savers Exchange collected the variety from the Ukraine in 1993.

• ±6,500 seeds/oz
• Organic
• Best Seller
• Excellent texture and flavor, rarely bitter
• Disease resistant
• Fruits grow up to 9 inches long in clusters of 4-6
• Dark purple skin and pale green flesh
• 50 seeds

This variety works for:

• Roasting
• Baking
• Grilling
• Stewing

To help the flesh of eggplant fruits hold up in dishes, roast it slightly before adding any sauces.

Some varieties of heirloom eggplant benefit from slicing the fruit ad then salting, rinsing, and draining the water that emerges from the flesh. It is thought to remove bitter flavors and reduce the amount of oil or fat taken up by the fruit when it is cooked.

Eggplant is sometimes used as a meat substitute because of its texture and rich, complex flavor. It is very popular in Indian dishes such as Baingan bharta an in French dishes like ratatouille.

Instructions - Start eggplant indoors 6-9 weeks before the average last frost. Soak seeds first to encourage germination and then sow ¼" deep. Using bottom heat for a week to 10 days will help with sprouting. Transplant when soil has warmed in a location that gets 8-10 hours of direct sun. If growing eggplant in raised beds or containers, keep the plants well watered.

• Start Indoors: 8 weeks before last frost
• Germination: 14 Days
• Plant Outdoors: 18-24” Apart
• Light: Full Sun