What's an Eggplant Worth?

I’ve been growing vegetables in my little garden for over ten years, and one may wonder what is the benefit of waiting four whole months to get an eggplant when there is a whole stand of them at the grocery store all the time, even in the middle of winter.

What happens is that every year, sometimes in the middle of February I get these packets of seeds. There is nothing going on outside, nothing but bleak cold dreary, and me, indoors, with a little packet of seeds in my hand.

I set up the seed trays, making an unholy mess in the process, as anybody who’s ever tried handling potting medium in their kitchen knows, plant one seed per tray and wait. Between that time and right about now many things happen - the first leaf, the first flower, the first fruit, the time for planting outdoors, the time for harvest - but the thing that really keeps me hooked is that, after experiencing all of them, come spring, I get to do it all again. Every spring I get another chance to see an eggplant go from seed to fruit in slow motion.

Most things in life have an expiration date, even life itself. In a way gardening brings me as close to the concept of forever as it is possible for a person to get. That is the worth of my eggplant.