Solanum melongena “Black Beauty”
Black Beauty eggplant, aubergine, brinjal: this American variety from the early 20th century has become the benchmark for black eggplants—the one that shaped the very image of the vegetable in our minds. Early and productive, it produces deep, glossy black fruits renowned for their good storage life.
Characteristics:
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Glossy black fruits: approximately 13 cm long, with firm, slightly bitter flesh.
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Early variety: it produces early and abundantly, an asset in our climate.
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Suitable for growing in pots: it adapts well to balconies and patios when grown in a large container.
Precautions:
- Like all nightshades, its foliage and immature fruits contain solanine and must not be eaten. Only fully formed, glossy fruits are edible, and they must always be cooked.
- Frost-tender and sensitive to cold: it suffers as soon as nighttime temperatures fall below 12 °C.
Sowing advice:
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Position: warm, sunny, and sheltered from the wind.
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Soil: very rich in humus, deep, moist, and well drained. This is an extremely hungry plant: a generous supply of well-rotted compost is crucial for fruit production. It does not tolerate standing water.
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Method: sow indoors in pots from February onward, at 24-26 °C—this is the critical point, as eggplant germinates poorly below 20 °C and is much more demanding than tomatoes in this respect. Plant outdoors only from May onward, once all risk of frost has passed. See how to sow your seeds.
Planting advice:
- Transplant after the frosts, spacing plants 60 cm apart, and provide a stake: fruit-laden stems bend easily.
Care advice:
- Water regularly at the base to keep the soil moist, without wetting the foliage. Mulch generously.
- Tip: in our climate, limit each plant to 5 or 6 fruits by pinching out the stem above the last one. You will get eggplants that actually ripen, rather than a dozen underdeveloped fruits.
Harvesting advice:
- Harvest when the skin is deep black and glossy. As soon as it turns dull, the fruit is overripe: its flesh will then be bitter and full of hard seeds.
Beneficial companion plants:
Benefits for biodiversity:
- Its purple flowers require buzz pollination: bumblebees, which can vibrate their muscles at high frequency, do the work. Honeybees are unable to do this.
- Welcoming bumblebees into the garden therefore directly improves your eggplant harvest.
Uses:
- Roasted in the oven, in ratatouille, moussaka, eggplant caviar, or grilled. Always cooked, never raw.
Saving your own seeds:
Leave one fruit well beyond the eating stage, until it turns yellow and becomes wrinkled. Then remove the seeds, rinse them, and dry them. As eggplant is mostly self-pollinating, cross-pollination is limited. See how to save your seeds.
Our commitment to Quality: at SemiSauvage - Permaculture, we grow and select our seeds with respect for all living things as our guiding principle. Based near the Auvergne Volcanoes, we choose reproducible, non-hybrid varieties, test them for germination rates, and carefully sort and package them without any chemical treatment. Our belief: to give gardeners back the ability to resow, year after year, seeds that truly belong to them.
The great classic of the Mediterranean vegetable garden, early and generous.
