Long, asian type eggplant on highly productive plant.The first year I tried to grow eggplants, they were pathetic. I mean ragged eared, mangy, whining puppy pathetic. I got one fruit out of it but it was whizened, overripe, small and probably bitter though I didn't taste it. What I had done wrong was assume that it would grow with the usual level of neglect I dole upon my plants.
Eggplants in the north are prima donnas.
They need heat! They need sun! They need water! They need nutrients! Provided you choose a short season variety (80 days or under is probably best), start early like tomatoes, and give them what they want, you can get an excellent crop in Ottawa.
This year, I'm growing Applegreen, Slim Jim, something unlabelled which I'm going to name 'Surprise,' and
Rima F3 seed produced by in the Toad's Garden blogger in Denmark.
Sun & Heat: If you don't have an area with near full sun then they will struggle but I'm all for experimenting. More sun of course means more heat.
Here is an eggplant seedling that produced beautifully planted in the ground with plastic mulch.To warm the soil, think raised beds and sandier soil. You can also warm it up by incoporating partially finished compost or by using plastic mulch. Some people grow in pots which is good but make sure you choose a small variety, and use a water rententive 'soil' so they don't dry out easily. Another option, one commonly employed in cool, cloudy, often coastal climes is to grow things like eggplants and melons under glass or in a polytunnel. This will cut down on the amount of solar input but has the added benefit of warming up the air and cutting back on rain splashing foliar diseases. Ottawa normally gets a decent summer so they do well (for me at least) with their heads uncovered as long as the soil is warm. Other ways of increasing heat include planting against a south facing barrier like a wall and slanting the planting beds to the south.
Flowers on a the variety Little Fingers if memory serves Water & Nutrients: Incorporating some unfinished compost near the planting bed can provide extra water and nutrients. You could bury a
plastic jug* with a pinprick hole or use ollas (terra cotta pots)* next to the planting soil to provide a slow but steady supply of water. Every once in a while give them some compost tea instead. I can see this type of watering being of most benefit if you are planting in pots or in very dry conditions.
Okay, so I'll wait while you start your eggplants and we'll do part two in May.
*
Pop bottle drip watering in a pot from The Fifth Street Palace Blog
** Ollas - unglazed ceramic pots for watering. The ones traditionally used are shaped like jugs but I've seen
people glue two pots together, sealing the bottom drainage hole and using the top (upside down pot) to add water. These are especially useful for drought prone areas. A serious link here from someone whose done their experimentation about
DIY ceramic pot watering system.
Just one pot method.
Using terra cota pots in a self watering system for starts: seedlings, cuttings.
Other uses for milk jugs
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Seed Offers
Need some eggplant seed? If you promise to tell me how they do, I have some more Rima F3 seeds produced by a European amateur plant breeder. I'll happily send some along with a few Applegreen while supplies last. Let me know how they do.
I also have some cabbage seed from a cross between San Michele (blush savoy) and Red Rock Mammoth. Both are long season and these are seeds from the Red Rock Mammoth pod parent. It was an uncontrolled breeding meaning that I didn't chaperone them so I don't know if you'll get a plant that is crossed or is just Red Rock Mammoth. Actually 'just' is unfair because, in my garden, it was disease and pest resistent, stored well, tasted great and shrugged off the cold.
For those of you waiting for my excess seeds, I'm nearly finished sorting these out so I"ll drop them off this week sometime. If you want me to add either of the above, let me know.
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Last Snow Day?
I was starting to think that the two people who bravely guessed late March might be right but now I'm leaning toward early April. At least, I hope it's early April!
I couldn't resist including garden dino in the picture. She's been living inside this year until we find a suitable place for her outside. My dahlias (hortensis and pinata) are in their new digs, alpine strawberries all planted up with some place new to grow and hablitzias have more space to expand. Unfortunately, one of my cats thought that this was box was a perfect spot for their big derriere and sat in it - grumble, grumble - so two of my hablitizias are convalescing. I hope for a speedy recovery. 
How not to start seedlings: overcrowded goji seedlings. I also discovered that a pot of very thickly sown mystery plants were goji berries that I didn't think would germinate hence the appearance that I was sprouting them for salad or something. I think I got 200% germination (you never know, maybe they all had double embryos - could happen). So I thinned viciously and now have a sane number of seedlings growing on. 
Tomato seedlings sprouted. They go outside everyday with a clear cover on if its cold, as long as it's above 0-2C against a south facing wall which increases the temperature. They come in at night. My in/outdoor containers of sauce and keeper tomatoes are sprouting. The sauce tomatoes are Opalka that did fantastically one rainy blight filled year in the northeast, along with some South American Banana sauce tomatoes that I happened to have a pack of. To add to the cold season tomato supplies, there's Winter Keeper that you can store like an apple from Mapple Farms (sweet potato slip supplier and more), Principe Borghese for sun dried tomatoes and A Grappoli d'Inverno for yanking and hanging to dry inside. 
The branches are to deter the cat's bottom. The big plants are cardoon and the tray is filled with anise hyssop and violas. The latter could really use transplanting. I'm hoping to hold off on the former so it can be transplanted in situ soonish. The kids helped with the transplanting. Who knew you could get dirt EVERYWHERE but on the roots? No, they did a pretty good job and learned a lot. My eldest 7.5 years old now, put dahlia seedlings in little trenches like a trooper. Trick for fast transplanting in trays or outside. I like to make a trench with my hands or space then place seedlings in it then backfill by pushing the dirt back in, instandly righting the plants. Easier than digging individual holes. I do the same thing for bulb transplant, just remember to stagger your transplants if you don't like the regimented appearance.
