Two gourmets were discussing the many ways of cooking aubergines. One said that there were 101 different dishes and the other reckoned he could double that number.

Yet neither could name a single variety. It would be good if we all knew much more about all of our veggies.

The aubergine is a good case in point. One of my favourite gardening books names a handful of different varieties.Which varieties would they be, you might wonder? Probably the purple or black something-or-other favoured by the commercial growers.

You can take your pick of some splendid aubergines which come in colours other than just purple and black. One of the most interesting seed catalogues I have come across is produced by Plants of Distinction. Called Simply Vegetables, it is a collection mainly for under-glass crops.

The list includes seven different aubergines. One of them is the fascinating Pingtung Long of Taiwanese extraction. It has deep lavender fruits about 30cms long on hardy vigorous plants which are generally disease free. It is also an early variety, ready within 6575 days from transplanting.

Apple Green is another highly productive plant with oval fruits of pale green and mild white flesh.

Aubergines take longer to germinate than most vegetables and grow slowly at first. I recommend a single seed to a fibre pot of compost in a minimum temperature of 60F but preferably ten degrees higher. When the seedlings are about 10cms high the young plant, pot and all, should be promoted to a larger container where, at about 20cms high, it can have the growing point pinched out to encourage a bushy plant. Eventually aubergines will do best in a 25cms pot.

You can get the Simply Vegetable list from Plants of Distinction, Abacus House, Station Yard, Needham Market, Suffolk, IP6 8AS.

By Jim Roberts