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Norman’s Patch 39
an article by Norman Cohen- Baltimore County Master Gardener
Eggplant -Solanum melongena
 As most master gardeners know, I have a real disdain for eating Kale and Swiss chard; however, I have a fondness for eggplant which started at an early age. A real treat was when my family went to Little Italy on Sunday dinner at the Roma. My mother would order melanzane alla parmigiana, eggplant parmesan. Of course, I wanted what my mother was eating and asked to have a taste. My mother said,” Do not worry Norman it’s not your taste”. As usual reverse psychology was applied, it was tasted and all eggplant dishes are some of my favorite ethnic dishes today.
From all indications, eggplant has its origins in southern India. The first written account of eggplant is an ancient Chinese agricultural treatise completed in 544. The etymology of the eggplant is quite complicated. In fact, in archaic English, the eggplant was called mad apple from the Italian melanzana; melanzana was interpreted by the English as mela insane or mad apple.
In the western Mediterranean, (al)-bāḏinjān became Spanish berenjena, Catalan as albergínia, and Portugese beringela. The Catalan form was borrowed by French as aubergine, which was then borrowed into British English. The term eggplant obtained its name from early English cultivars which resembled white hen’s egg.
The eggplant is a member of the Solanaceae family or Nightshades which contain the potato, tomato, pepper and the weed, horse nettle. The eggplant is a delicate, tropical perennial often cultivated as a tender or half-hardy annual in temperate climates. Cultivars grows from 16 to 57 inches tall, with large, coarsely lobed leaves that are 4 to 8 inches long and 2–4 inches in width. Semi-wild types can grow much larger, to a height of 7 feet with large leaves over 12 inches in length and 6 inches broad. The stem can often be spiny. The flower is white to purple, with a five-lobed corolla and yellow stamens.
The egg-shaped glossy black fruit has white flesh with a meaty texture. On wild plants, the fruit is less than 1 and ½ inches in diameter, but very much larger in cultivated forms, reaching a foot or more in length. The fruit is botanically necessity classified as a berry and contains numerous small, soft seeds which are edible, but have a bitter taste because they contain nicotinoid alkaloids (being a relative of tobacco). The cultivated eggplant has four standard shapes: bell; long, my favorite is Ichiban (number one in Japanese); cylindrical and round
Verticillium wilt can be an issue in cultivation; a survey of seed catalogs show no disease resistant varieties. Disease management is crop rotation. The geneticists are attempting to hybridize S. melongena with its wild cousin S. torvum to develop a disease resistant plant. At the Grow It Eat It Demo garden, the biggest pain in the derrière is the ubiquitous flea beetle whose host plant in early spring is horse nettle. Weeding is a necessity and can be therapeutic.
The floating row cover is an excellent physical strategy; however, aesthetically, with everybody using row covers, the vegetable garden loses eye appeal. A little labor intensive is coating the eggplant leaves with, kaolin clay, an organic product. The kaolin clay, trade name Surround, is slurried and sprayed on the leaves of the eggplant forming a particulate barrier between the flea beetle and the leaf. Unfortunately when it rains the product must be re-applied.
Some of my favorites are: the Greek appetizer dip ”melitzanosalat” with crusty bread; Szechwan Chinese eggplant with spicy garlic sauce and the traditional North Indian (Punjabi) Bhurtha made with eggplant and tomato, and seasoned with cumin, turmeric garlic and ginger. All the Master Gardeners thought that I only ate sweets!!
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Brood X cicadas are emerging in Baltimore County!
Here’s what you can expect
By Ashley Yeager, Baltimore County Master Gardener
Here in Baltimore County, we are starting to see the telltale muddy tunnels that signal the emergence of cicadas, which –like it or not– will impact your summer and lawn in 2021.
 You’ve undoubtedly had cicadas in your yard before, and it probably hasn’t been 17 years since you’ve seen (or heard!) them out in the trees. There are 15 periodical broods that each emerge every 13-17 years, though this year’s batch –Brood X– is undoubtedly the largest and most widespread. From Georgia to New York, and all the way west to the Mississippi River, these noisy abundant neighbors are digging their way up and out after spending 17 years deep underground feeding on fluid from the xylem of tree roots.
As soon as temperatures 8” underground reach 64⁰F the cicadas emerge at night, leaving mud chimneys, or turrets, as evidence. They will then climb the nearest tree or structure, where they will shed their exoskeleton and hunker down to allow their vulnerable soft shells to harden and darken. The following day the cicadas will fly to the treetops, where they will converge in enormous numbers, up to 1.5 million per acre.
About a week after they emerge, the adult cicadas will begin their mating rituals, which means a lot of noise for the duration of their 4-6 week above-ground lifespan. The males produce a mating call by vibrating their tymbals, which reverberate in their abdomen to amplify the sound. Multiply that by millions, and the song you hear outside could be 80-100 decibels– as loud as a lawnmower.
While this song is meant to attract female mates, it is also a dinner bell for the many birds, turtles, spiders, small mammals, and brave humans who fancy the Brood X cicadas a delicacy. As a high-protein, low-carb, low-fat treat, several local restaurants expect to add cicadas to their summer menus, preparing them in the style of another beloved arthropod- the shrimp.
When the female cicada is ready to lay her eggs, she will use a saw-like organ called an ovipositor to slice open a branch 6-12” from the tip, where she will deposit 20-30 eggs at a time. Over her 4-6 week lifespan above ground, each female will lay between 400-600 eggs. While cicadas are no danger to humans, gardens, or mature trees, they can be a problem for the delicate branches of young trees, which can bow or break with the added weight. Covering young trees with netting with holes smaller than ⅜” can prevent the females from causing damage.
Six to ten weeks later, cicada nymphs will emerge, fall to the ground, and dig themselves as deep as 8’ below ground, where they will cling to tree roots until they emerge again in 2038.
Additional information available at:
http://bugoftheweek.com/
https://cicadacrewumd.weebly.com/
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Baltimore County Master Gardener Demonstration Garden
1114 Shawan Road, Cockeysville
an article by Deana Karras and Debbie Bacharach, Baltimore County Master Gardeners
 The Demonstration Garden was created by and is maintained by BCMGs to educate County residents about safe, effective, and sustainable horticultural practices that build healthy gardens, landscapes, and communities, relying on science-based information. Education is the mission and principal goal of the Master Gardener program, so come out and visit and we will try and answer all your questions!
The garden is housed within a large fenced area made up of themed gardens and a composting area. Each garden has a mailbox that contains information on topics related to that garden area. In normal times, the Demonstration Garden is the site for Free Gardening Seminars, the popular Children’s Gardening Series, and many tours and talks. The garden is a central attraction during Garden Fest (in conjunction with the Hereford Junior Farm Fair) and Family Farm Day (sponsored by MARC), which also includes the popular Tomato Tasting event (40 or more varieties to savor!). Stay tuned for educational opportunities in the garden as COVID restrictions lift.
The Deer Resistant Garden lies at the main garden entrance just outside the fenced area. With the deer population on the rise due to shrinking habitat, lack of natural predators, and the difficulties of hunting in urban/suburban areas, this is a topic of great interest to most Marylanders. Deer-resistant plants (remember no plant is deer-proof to a hungry deer!) are on display. Fuzzy, prickly, or strongly scented plants will deter deer, as well as bitter-tasting or poisonous ones. Come visit for more helpful wildlife management hints and information.
 The first garden you see on entering is the Bay-Wise Garden which is comprised of the Welcome Garden, Rain Garden, Bay-Wise Garden, and Habitat Area, all of which demonstrate Bay-Wise principles. They include trees, shrubs, herbaceous plants, and ground covers that require little or no watering, fertilizers, or pesticides, and show just how lovely they can be. By requiring less input, these gardens show how to garden sustainably without detriment to our waterways. Additionally, the Rain Garden contains plants that tolerate both drought and standing water and offers an example of stormwater runoff control. The Habitat Garden focuses on wildlife support, with a water source, food in the form of native plants and berries, and habitats such as birdhouses, fallen branches, and leaves. Inspiration for every home!
Grow It Eat It is dedicated to educating Marylanders on following sustainable practices to grow their own food. It is made up of nine plots, 4 of which are devoted to crop rotation (leaves and greens, legumes, fruiting vegetables, root vegetables), a seasonally themed plot, one demonstrating small space gardening techniques including raised beds and container options, and plots devoted to asparagus, strawberries, and blueberries. Our plots tend to be more than instructive - they are also quite lovely! The Orchard is the newest addition to the Demonstration Garden, just 2 years old but maturing beautifully. Come out to learn what you can grow in your spaces, no matter how limited. Apple trees (demonstrating various growing techniques such as espalier), pawpaws, a quince, persimmons, Asian pears, serviceberry, and more are established, along with small fruits such as gooseberries, currants, kiwi, goji berries, and blackberries.
The Herb Garden was created to educate about those wonderful plants we value especially for their savory, medicinal, or aromatic qualities. The garden displays a wide variety of flowering herbs, thematically grouped. In 2019 a beautiful Thyme Spiral was added to the garden. Sit and enjoy the aromas and learn what might be right for your garden spaces.
 The Pollinator Garden offers ideas and inspiration for residential and small site landscapes for pollinator plantings and support. The focus is on demonstrating essential habitat requirements for a broad range of pollinator species. It also provides opportunities to encounter pollinators up close - during the height of the summer and fall the garden is absolutely alive with butterflies, many bee species, moths, wasps, beetles, and birds. All native plants, something wonderful is blooming each season, from zizias to nodding onions to buttonbush to goldenrods. A Monarch Waystation offers an example of specific species support for our threatened monarch butterfly in the form of caterpillar food (milkweeds) and nectar plants for adults.
One of the most popular destinations is the charming Children’s Garden, focused on educating young people on plants, how to garden, and good gardening practices through examples and activities. There is a sensory path with plants to touch, smell, and even hear. A tunnel created with willows and a tepee created with vines promote play and alphabet letters identify plants from A to Z. Take advantage of the Little Library filled with garden-themed books for kids.
Last but not least is the Composting area, with displays of various methods of making compost, which can provide enormous benefits for the home garden and the environment. Composting is basically how to turn green materials (grass and plant clippings) and brown materials (leaves and straw) into rich dark soil. The area includes compost bins constructed with used pallets, trash can composting, and open bin composting along with information on hot and cold composting and appropriate materials.
Please come visit the gardens any time of the year, as there is always something of interest. They are open to the public during park hours, dawn to dusk. Entry is free. Just close the gate behind you and be sure to leave a note on our sign-in sheet!
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