How and When to Harvest Eggplants

The last time I posted about my eggplants, they were just tiny cute eggplant seedlings. I planted them together with my tomatoes and they ended up thriving more. I think right now, I have more than 10 pots of eggplant and not only have they started bearing fruits weeks ago, but those that first did have already grown their fruits so much that I already harvested one of them.

So how do you know when your eggplant is ready to be harvested? Here are some guidelines:

My Tomato Plants Started Bearing Fruits

After breakfast this morning, I went to the balcony to water and prune my plants (as usual) when I noticed that my tomato plants now have a number of tomato fruits! Oh wow! At long last! I noticed that they come from the flowers that were already wilted. Then it hit me, no wonder it took a while for my tomato plants to bear fruit --- I kept pruning the dried flowers before! Ack! This is what happens when I don't study vegetable farming very well and I just learn as I go along. Now that I know better, you also know better. I will never prune dried flowers anymore. Teehee.

Here, look at the photos I took this  morning of my babies bearing their own baby tomatoes. So cute!

My First Okra Harvest

My vegetable plants are growing bigger and bigger and I'm still amazed at how I am able to take care of them for almost four months now. I never had a green thumb before but now I believe that with enough patience, discipline and passion, anything is possible! 

I've already harvested from my Kangkong (and I keep doing so every week) and now my Okra! It's really true what vegetable farmers say... the fulfillment you get from eating food that you grow yourself is priceless and fulfilling. I should know... I just ate steamed okra for breakfast together with kangkong, carrots, eggs, fish, soya milk and brown rice. Yum!

I hope the photos below will inspire you to start planting too. Let's be self-sustainable! 

My First Kangkong Harvest

My Kangkong has been growing and crawling into my other vegetable plants that I decided to cut some of its stems and leaves so it doesn't get too crowded. 

How to Grow Kailan and Kangkong Seeds

HOW TO GROW WATER SPINACH (KANGKONG) AND CHINESE KALE (KAILAN) THE EASY WAY

Tomato, Eggplant and Okra Seedlings 2nd Month Update

It's been two months since I ventured into making my own vegetable garden. I've only re-potted my tomato, eggplant and okra seeds once and I've been meaning to transplant them again to much bigger pots where they can permanently grow and bear vegetable fruits. Unfortunately, I can no longer eat tomatoes, eggplant and okra because of my GERD and acid reflux but maybe once I'm healed, I can slowly incorporate them in my diet again.

I'll really find time his weekend to re-pot my growing vegetable seedlings. Must jot this down on my short-term goals book. I need to include this little activity and use the power of goal setting.

Anyway, here are photos I took a few minutes ago to show you how big my okra, tomato and eggplants seedlings are now:

2-month old tomato seedlings

How to Grow Eggplant Seeds - My Mini Vegetable Garden Project

Growing eggplants use pretty much the same procedure as growing tomatoes. I actually planted my eggplant seeds the same time I planted my okra seeds and tomato seeds. As my tomato and okra seeds were starting to grow only after a week, there was still no visible sign of eggplant sprouts so I just let it grow in its own pace. That was Sept. 18, 2011.

HOW TO GROW EGGPLANTS THE EASY WAY

How to Transplant Tomato and Okra Seedlings

Last month (October), the weather has been rainy and stormy that it proved to be bad for my tomato and okra seedlings which needed to be under direct sunlight in order to grow well. They were also crowding in their little recycled pots so I thought of transplanting them. Some survived and some didn't. Here's how it happened.

Transplanting Tomato Seedlings

Tomato seedlings are more resilient than okra. Once their stems grow about 3 inches, and they get to have more than two true leaves, and they seem crowded in their little pots, they can be transplanted to a bigger and deeper individual pots.

How to Plant Okra Seeds - My Mini Vegetable Garden Project

If you happen to be a lazy indoor vegetable farmer like myself, I'll share with you the most important things you need to learn when planting okra from seeds. No need to a buy book or read a ton of materials from the internet. However, you still have the option to watch videos and articles on the internet if you really want to. But if you only have a little bit of time to squeeze in in your very busy day, well, not to fret coz I've compiled a short list of what you need to do to make sure you can grow okra seeds from scratch.

HOW TO GROW OKRA THE EASY WAY

How to Plant Tomato Seeds - My Mini Vegetable Garden Project

Yesterday, I shared with you how to make an affordable mini vegetable garden. This stemmed from my desire to become more self-sufficient by being able to harvest and eat food that I grew myself. Read a little bit of the background here: How My Mini Vegetable Garden Started

So anyway, on this post, I'll tell you the most important things I learned on how to grow tomato seeds. HOW TO GROW TOMATOES THE EASY WAY

How to Make a Mini Vegetable Garden the Affordable Way

Below is a quick guide on how to make a mini vegetable garden without spending so much. Read more:

HOW TO START YOUR OWN VEGETABLE GARDEN AT HOME THE AFFORDABLE WAY