Market Farming

["Lynn Wigglesworth" <lynnw1366 AT hotmail.com>]

I don't know much about eggplant (don't like it much so I rarely grow it).
I'm growing several varieties in my market garden this year because a
couple people asked for it. The long oriental type are soft...should they
be that way? I harvest them at about 8-10" long. The big dark purple ones
in the store are hard as rocks, and my other varieties are firm but not
hard. Is 'soft' normal for long orientals or are they under/over ripe?

Also, should they be refrigerated? I normal leave the veggies out in the
farm stand during the day and refridgerate everything except tomatoes at
night (I'm only open 3 days a week and harvest fresh every week...give
away or feed any excess to the sheep after market days)

Lynn Wigglesworth
Peasant Farmer
Tioga County, PA