Now well into autumn – the hype and lustre of the summer garden has, for now, completely gone. My free time has been spent weeding, starting off the winter seedlings and clearing out all the dead summer plants. Although this is usually a “down” time in the garden, it can at times be disappointing compared to what the garden looked like and the harvests I had in summer. Despite this, I have been encouraged and comforted by the continued small harvests throughout autumn of my eggplants (which have been a huge success) and capsicums.
I know the glory of these plants also won’t last, but for now the weekly harvests of supermarket sized eggplants seems just too good to be true! These have also far outdone any of my previous attempts at growing these veggies and have helped fill in the gap until the winter harvests start.
Penny's Garden: a harvest beyond my front door 
In my garden, eggplant is white with purple mixed… Your garden is really too sweet!!!
Thank you! 🙂
Eggplants just love the hot weather . They do very little in the garden no matter how early you plant them until the heat comes. They thrive in Adelaide but traditionally have not done so well in Melbourne until mid summer. In Adelaide I have seen the plants nearly the size of a Grosse Lisse tomatoe but never in Melbourne. I have planted them enthusiastically in early to mid spring thinking the plants will get a head start but it is not until the heat of summer comes that they take off. However with Melbourne now seemingly having a hotter and longer summer season ( like this year) eggplant and capsicum should thrive. I kept a capsicum plant from last year in a large pot and placed it in a protected spot ( from frost) . It was leafless but had the frame of an adult plant . I trimmed it back a little where the tips looked a bit dead and it started growing again the following spring. I had an early crop of capsicums (green ones) However like eggplant, they like the heat especially if you want them to redden.
Lauris