Birth of an Eggplant

egg·plant

   /ˈɛgˌplænt, -ˌplɑnt/  Show Spelled

noun

1.

a plant, Solanum melongena esculentum,  of the nightshadefamily, cultivated for its edible, dark-purple or occasionallywhite or yellow fruit.

2.

the fruit of this plant  used as a table vegetable.

3.

a blackish purple color; aubergine.

And we are growing them.  Lots and lots of them.  And they are fascinating to watch.  Are you wondering what makes them fascinating?  Let me show you what I mean.

 At first these pretty purple flowers bloom.  They grow and then they droop over.  At first you think that that is it, goodbye flower.  But no....

As the flower is hanging upside down a little eggplant starts to emerge.  WHAT???  That's right, they just bend right over and start turning into a large beautiful purple eggplant.

 Was this my pretty delicate little purple flower?  Why yes it was!!  It will keep growing and growing until we harvest it.  I think I have a new favorite veggie.  

 Another wonderful surprise was our okra.  We have never grown okra before so we didn't know what to expect.  Many people requested that we plant it, so we thought sure why not.  This little veggie also has a beautiful flower growing on it's branches, but we have no idea why.  And those little green sprouts above the flower, NOT the okra.  Even though that is what we have been watching and waiting to pick.  Haha tricks on us.  The okra actually grows on the bottom of the plant.  Who knew...

 These pumpkins came from a rotten pumpkin we just threw in the dirt last year.  We never planned on growing pumpkins, but here they are, ready or not.  Cool!