Just pick one that looks interesting, You have grown the three basic types of purple eggplant, so maybe you would like to branch out to the white or green types.

Green Goddess {{gwi:14364}}
Cloud Nine {{gwi:14365}}

farmerdill, how does the green or white eggplants taste compared to the purple ones?

I am not fond of them, but many folks prefer them. They are milder in flavor, which my taste buds seem to interpret as bland. Hopefully some of the advocates will jump in here. I have tried quite a few eggplants jsut for their visual appeal or shock value. On my personal plate I prefer the slim Asian purple types like Ichiban. Have not tried Hansel but have grown Slim Jim, which also grows in clusters of small fruits. Too small for most uses. {{gwi:14366}}
This years trial cultivars will be Fond May and Orient Express

I just asked a similar question and did a lot of online research on new varieties to try. Last year I grew Rosa Bianca which I had grown several times before at my old house. I enjoy it because it seems like it just melts in your mouth.

I chose the following for this year:

Swallow: Several people listed Ichiban as a favorite and this cultivar is supposed to be similar and is recommended by Fedco for my zone.

Pingtung Long: Another oriental type that looks attractive and seems to have lots of good feedback for taste/texture.

Rosa Bianca: Don't want to not grow it unless I find something I like better.

I've read about so many interesting varieties, that I am thinking about making this summer an eggplant trial year and adding two additional varieties:

Ichiban: I found a source for it even though the seed is supposedly no longer in production. I wish I knew just how similar Swallow is supposed to be!

Dancer: An improved version of Neon. I had grown Neon many many years ago and I recall it was a good variety, particularly in northern areas.

I just don't know if I can eat 5 plants worth of eggplant!

"I just don't know if I can eat 5 plants worth of eggplant!"

You might want to try freezing. The DW steams them whole, peels them, then freezes them on cookie sheets. I vacuum seal them once frozen. They maintain quality for a long time, and find their way into soups & omelets all winter.

I grow "Casper" (white) and "Diamond" (purple), both slim varieties which have proven themselves in my Northern climate. They might be less suited to warmer areas.

Lavender Touch really impressed me last year. It is beautiful, prolific, and tasty. Ichiban received more insect damage than others.

Brook

I grew Black Beauty and Japanese Long Purple this year and both were extremely tasty! Black Beauty was amazingly productive and hardy. This year I'm keeping those and adding Diamond from the Ukraine.

You might want to add Ping Tung and Rosita to your pick list.

Ping Tung
{{gwi:14367}}

Rosita
{{gwi:14368}}

Last year my trials were Ping Tung and Santana. Both did OK but I particularly liked the Ping Tung. So my 3 choices for this year are Ichiban, Rosita, and Ping Tung. The Ping Tung and Rosita seemed to better withstand our intense southern heat. Plants produced well into Fall. Ichiban did not survive past August.

I've not decided if to trial something new.

Wow, Grandad, those really look big. How tall were they? Very good looking plants, by the way. The flea beetles really work on my eggplants' leaves, and cuke beetles love the skin. Also, do the Rositas grow that way naturally, or do you remove the lower leaves??

Brook

I didn't know you could freeze eggplant! Does it affect the texture?

Last year I grew one of the white varieties. Can't remember which, but it had far meatier texture than one of the classic purples. Rather bland, but good in curry or anything with really flavorful sauce.
A couple of the long asian types, particularly Millionaire was a big winner for me. I'm looking forward to Ping Tung this summer, seems to have good all around reviews.
I par-bake slices (sprayed with EVOO on cookie sheet, 350 degrees for 15 minutes) then freeze so I have sufficient quantities for Eggplant Parm all winter long.

brookw, I've grown Rosita for 4 years now. They've grown to the same 6 to 7 ft height each year. I do not pick the lower leaves. I do get flea beetles early in the season but the bettles generally decrease by summer and then almost disappear by fall.

Rosita is an OP variety. The number of fruit per plant harvested on a given day seem to be lower than Ichiban. For example, I may pick 4 to 6 Ichiban per plant in late June and on the same day 2 or 3 Rosita. But, on the positive side, the production continues the beyond the time when the Ichiban plants die.

I'd like to vouch for Rosa Bianca, as it has become my favorite for slicing and grilling - firm, delicate texture w/sweet, mild taste. It makes nice baba ganoush too. I've always loved the Japanese varieties (both long and the little round ones), and Ping Tung (Chinese) was nice too.

For some odd reason downtown L.A. (the mother of all concrete jungles) is full of keelback leafhoppers, and they can't resist my nightshades (eggplants, peppers & tomatoes), so I'll have to really double down with the neem this summer.

I even had one brave little round Japanese eggplant I started from seed I brought back from Japan in a porcelain sink, and the seeds must have been about 5 years old (!) hang on for over two years and kept producing until the leafhoppers finally did it in last winter.

Happy eggplanting!

Brenda K

I grew Hansel and Gretel for a couple of years and found Hansel to be a bigger producer than Gretel - tasted better as well. Gretel seemed to attract some bug that ate holes in it.

My husband and I bought a large variety of eggplants last year to compare for taste and texture and Rosa Bianca won easily. So that is what we are growing this year. I heard it is a bit shy in the north but will give it a try anyway. I am also going to grow Beatrice which is said to be similiar to Rosa Bianca. We will round out the eggplant patch with Nadia. So 6 plants ought to do it for the two of us.

I tried blanching the eggplants then freezing them last year and didn't care for the results. The ones that I had cooked were better. This year, I used a dehydrator and they dry so well and store for a long time.

Thanks for all the info. Eggplants are so much fun to grow. I am going to grow 1 or 2 new ones this year but its so many I would like to try its still hard to narrow it down. I am planting Hansel and Ichiban like I did last year and maybe some lighter color variations. The light purple ones looks nice, or maybe a white one to change things up.

Last year I grew Casper & Diamond (both heirlooms). They did very well. I plan on growing them again.

I like white eggplants. To me, they taste less bitter. I also prefer to grow rounder, fatter eggplants as opposed to the long, skinny ones. I seem to have a tough time telling when the long skinny ones are ripe, wait too long and then the skins are tough.

white: Casper
orange Turkish orange
green: apple green
red:red egg
black: black beauty
orange/green: striped toga
yellow :thai yellow egg
purple :Rosa Bianca

I have 2 year old Diamond and Japanese plants. Wondering how long will continue to produce and if I should be planting more this spring? They love my dryer vent and air conditioner vent for the heat! I protect them from freezes and get about 9 months of fruit!

Tracy, do you prune your plants back? When I lived in San Diego, my eggplant often overwintered; but while the yield the second year was very early, the plants seemed to run out of gas in mid-Summer. I would start new plants in a different location, then dig up the old ones when the yield dropped off. I wasn't fertilizing them very heavily the second year, so that may help.

"I tried blanching the eggplants then freezing them last year and didn't care for the results. The ones that I had cooked were better. This year, I used a dehydrator and they dry so well and store for a long time."

That was my observation also, regarding fully cooked vs. blanched. I mostly use the frozen eggplant chopped into omelets, although I eat some battered & fried with the stem still on.

Dehydration??? Gardenvt, I'm rapidly becoming a fan of dehydration, as my skill improves. It takes a good dehydrator, though... went through a couple bad ones before I found one that worked well. Never would have thought you could do that with eggplant. Could you give us more detail on the technique you use? And what you make with the dried eggplant?

I didn't prune last summer. The first fall I pruned as it seemed like the leaves were giving too much shade and I have them in a partially shaded area.
It may be a mute point as I'm having trouble keeping them covered in this wind and it was 24 degrees this AM with windchill at 15. They are next to a brick wall but the wind was really whipping them around. I guess I'll see next week if I need to start some seeds!
I would like to start a small round, green variety, the size of a golfball. I've had them in Thai dishes before and just love them. Probably won't replace the Diamond as I prefer the sweetness and tender skin of the Japenese.

Zeedman, I think the yield my second year was actually better than my first! And, I picked my last one just a couple of weeks ago for eggplant soup!
I was mistaken on the variety of the big one, though. It's some sort of big one, sort of like the store bought type. Someone earlier said Diamond is a long variety? Now I have no idea what my big one is.
The Asian one was an HD buy from 2009, labeled "Japanese Eggplant". The big one I started from a seed and spilled the seedling in front of the AC unit in a space about 4 inches between the unit and the sidewalk. It somehow survived despite the fact it was August in AZ. I don't have the seed packet, it was an HD seed packet and grows a one pound oval eggplant just like store bought, although it only gets bitter if you let it get overripe.

I was also looking for Hansel this year. Here is a link to Reimer Seeds that offers it.

Here is a link that might be useful: Reimer Seeds

Well, lots of damage from the storm but I think the eggplants might survive. I'm waiting for them to drop leaves so that I can decide which branches are truly dead. All in all, not so bad, I only lost one habanero with some damage to bougainvillea, hibiscus, eggplants and other peppers.
I did cover my plants each night.
I know a lot of people started their gardens early and lost everything. The citrus also look scary, especially on the edges and the far east edges of town, where the altitude is 1,000 feet higher.

Agree on Ichiban. But my plants look much smaller than grandad's Ping Tung. It could be the variety. Or it could be the gardner :-) I think Hansel has smaller fruits and thicker skin, but more fruits (like gardenall mentioned, they bear in clusters).

If you're also in zone 8 and don't want to start from seeds every year, try to keep them in the ground this winter. Some of my eggplants came back last year.

Zeedman, if you want to learn about dehydrating everything, you must get Mary T Bell's book on dehydrating - cheapest from Amazon. It is one of the oldest on the market but has been updated over the years. She is the dehydrator guru.

I simply followed her directions - sliced,steamed the eggplant briefly, and then dried for maybe 3-4 hours - it was the fastest drying of everything I put in the dehydrator. Once dry, you can freeze them or keep them in glass jars.

I also use eggplant in omelets or frittatas. You can also use it in casseroles. I make something I call eggplant lasagna which is just layering eggplant, tomatoes and ricotta/mozzarella and bake at 350 for 20 minutes or so - the eggplant is already cooked so this is one quick dish. You can then put it over any pasta you like - or none at all. Eggplant is awesome in rattatouille - did I spell that right? That dish has just about anything you want from the garden in it and is just wonderful to make on the grill. Just prep all your veggies before you get started as it goes very fast. I like the eggplant steamed - none of the fat and all of the flavor.

I have a Nesco FD 1020 and I really like it - digital thermometer and timer though the timer doesn't mean that much to me since I usually put it on early. What I really like is that the fan is on top - no mess to clean up there.

My new choice this year has been made. I ordered fairy tale, millionaire hybrid, and purple rain hybrid that should be in any day now. It is so many great eggplants out there, but a person can only try so many in a given year.Does anyone else have a problem with narrowing down to just a few types for that growing season?

I prefer the long Asian eggplants the most, simply because they are more abundant for me and fit my culinary needs. I do freeze them, I do not freeze the larger Italian types at all, just the long slender ones. They tend to freeze very well for some reason. We just slice them and freeze the slices on a cookie sheet and then put these into bags. They hold shape better when cooked than the Italian types do (which tend to just go to mush when frozen for us).
Pintung Long is a great one, Hansel was mentioned, and it is also good. I LOVE Louisianna Long Green and Thai Long Green, they are insanely prolific for me and are very mild in stir fries: we like them cooked with okra and yard long beans in a spicy peanut sauce. I add them to chilli and soups after they've been frozen. Casper and Rosa Bianca are my favorite slightly "larger" eggplants because they are still prolific. Rosita has done very well for me too and like the other Asian/Indian types is fairly mild. I HATE peeling eggplant so the milder the better to me!

Last year was my first time with eggplants and I only had 2 Black Beauty plants, not much yield, so this year, I have 4 Japanese eggplants, 3 Ichibans, and 2 Purple Blaze. I didn't get my seeds started of Rosita I REALLY wanted to try or the White egg, so all I could get was these or black beauty, amazed I could even get these varietys in my little town! Anyone ever grown the Purple Blaze hybrid?

Well, my 2 year old eggplants lost almost all their leaves from our 20 degree freeze. I waited a week and pruned everything that appeared dead. They both rallied and back with vigor. Now, they both look better than ever, fully leafed out and completely covered in flowers, it's only April and the flowers aren't forming fruit yet. It may be a little cool at night for fruit set still but it doesn't look like production will be any lower, at least not for awhile.
I am going to start a few new plants, Louisiana long green and Ping Tung so if and when these plants, going on their third summer, poop out on me, we will still have eggplant.