How to turn eggplant flowers into fruit

When you think of 'pollination' do you picture bees or paintbrushes?  When it comes to eggplant, pollination has nothing to do with insects - and all to do with wind!  Eggplant flowers, unlike nearly ALL other vegetable flowers, are self-pollinating; that is, each flower has all that it needs to grow into a beautiful, purple fruit - if given the correct circumstances.

Many gardeners have frustratingly tried growing eggplants to find that they have an abundance of the beautiful purple flowers and see NO harvest!  In order for eggplants to self-pollinate, the plants need to be far enough apart for the wind to jostle the flowers so that the pollen can fall onto the pistil, pollinating the flower.  This can also be a problem in very humid conditions, when the pollen is too sticky to go anywhere.

Fortunately, on the rooftop we have no shortage of wind, so our eggplants are in full production!  If you're trying to grow eggplant and not sure that your plants will get enough wind, you can pollinate the flowers yourself by taking a clean paintbrush and moving it around inside of the flowers.  This will ensure the pollen gets to the pistil.

Also, don't forget that eggplants like a lot of water - 2 inches a week, in fact. So if you're still having problems with flowers falling off before they fruit, try upping your watering and see if that helps.

Rooftop Garden Brunch

On June 24th, we had our first private event on the rooftop - a Sunday Brunch!  This was actually a Silent Auction item that was won at CORE/El Centro's fundraiser in May.  It was a beautiful day for a delicious meal and the 10 guests who attended are eager to be back for more rooftop revelry!

(Pictures are courtesy of Nancy Rubly)

Children in the Garden

As part of the Community Health and Fitness program, CORE/El Centro offers children's activities during most of our movement classes.  We are excited to start engaging some of these kids in garden planting, watering, and tasting!

This week we had some of the kids come up and plant tomatoes.  We'll have a group of kids come up every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to water the garden while their parents are taking zumba classes.  We'll also have the kids make some good signage for the garden - and, of course, enjoy the "fruits" of their labor!

Lettuce Harvest!

Thanks to volunteer Stephanie, we harvested over 5 pounds of delicious leaf lettuce this week.

We washed and bagged the lettuce which was given out to staff and volunteers of the building tenants.  Until we have our policies in place to sell, we're just enjoying the abundance amongst ourselves.  As the harvests grow, we'll continue to give out samples to clients, visitors, staff and volunteers.

Come visit during the Open Hours to enjoy a sample from the rooftop gardens!

Grand Opening Celebration Pictures

Amidst 25 mph winds (gusts were DEFINITELY stronger!) and below a clear blue sky, over 60 people gathered on the Edible Skyline rooftop today to celebrate the opening of CORE/El Centro's rooftop garden.

A group of volunteers came earlier in the day to transplant tomatoes, peppers, onions, tomatillos, strawberries, marigolds, zinnias, basil, mint, sage, parsley, cilantro and 1 squash!

We had an abundance of gardening resources and information, including the opportunity to try out some adaptive garden tools (for those with arthritis or wrist injuries).

The rooftop is officially open for the public 5 hours a week - Monday 3:30-4:30, Tuesday 10:45-12pm, Wednesday 8am-9am and 5pm-6pm, Thursday 5:30-6:30pm.  Stop by and see our plant progress, sit and read a book or ask our on-staff Garden Ambassador if they need a hand!

Grand Opening Celebration June 2nd

Summer is definitely upon us!

With overnight temperatures steadily above 50 degrees (and highs often above 70), it is time to get our garden planted.  The tomatoes, herbs (basil, lemon basil, sage, parsley and onions), and zinnias that we're growing in the southern window are bursting from their pots, ready to brave the windy conditions on the roof!

We have had tremendous support from the gardening group of Professional Dimensions - in addition to the time they have put in helping me organize and plan the garden, they have donated seed starting materials, seedlings (which we will be planting this weekend), garden tools and materials.  Thank you to all!!  We also have a number of volunteers who have donated personally-grown starters and who will be helping to plant this weekend before the Open House.

Speaking of which - check out www.edibleskyline.mivoz.com for details about the upcoming Grand Opening Celebration next weekend, June 2nd from 12-3pm. In partnership with the WI Arthritis Program, we will be sharing some garden wellness tips, offering some hands-on experience using adaptive garden tools and answering your questions about the Edible Skyline Project.  We hope to see you there!

Rooftop Gardens in Madison, WI

This weekend I spent time in Madison, WI visiting some other rooftop gardens for inspiration.  Though these gardens aren't producing food like the Edible Skyline project will, they are beautiful greenscapes in the city and are doing a lot to capture rainwater and keep the sewers healthy! 

On top of St. Mary's Hospital

Another view of the gardens at St. Mary's

This is the largest rooftop garden in Madison,
at University Square on the UW- Madison campus.

The green walled area on the far side of this garden
is a beautiful social area for students living in these apartments! 

It's difficult to see in this picture, but the Unitarian Society building has
rooftop planters capturing water above its worship hall.

A creative and artistic downspout - made from bell-shaped
cups which capture water and allow it spill down into the cups below.