I actually grew the larger bok choy last year and loved it. I love adding it to stir fries (simple). Another simple meals is to stir fry them with a little oil, garlic and ginger. I add some leftover chicken (rotissere works well) and add some chicken broth. It's yummy!! This year I'm trying the gai lan (Chinese broccoli). I read that you harvest when they're about 6-8 inches tall by cutting the stalks. Then they'll grow back and you can harvest at least 2 more times. Sounded like a great bargain! These I prepare Chinese style with oyster sauce but you could use them like broccoli or raab. Yummy! I love that you volunteer garden for seniors. What a great way to give back!!

I am growing and have grown 6 varieties of heirlooms. The winner is Cherokee Purple with potato leaf Red Brandywine a distant second. There is a reason as to why the Cherokee is the number 1 selling seed and that is Flavor. It is also the most difficult to grow but really not impossible. My techniques. Grow in 5 gallon buckets,dark sandy loam soil. I get my soil from the top inch of earth below pine and oak trees. Objective is pH of soil. I also increase the acidity of soil by applying powered sulphur and large amounts of oak leaves and pine straw. I run a rope thru bottom of bucket up to an 8 ft high bar. This gives me a place to tie branches as they grow and also helps support the weight of the fruit. I use, as directed, Miracle Grow 24-8-16 and apply once per week, 1/2 gallon per plant. When temps reach 90+ I water twice per day, 1/2 gallon of water per plant on each application. Otherwise, 1 gallon of water per day per plant. I place buckets as closely as possible to each other to give fruit as much shade as possible. This almost eliminates cracking and splitting. You end up with a Jungle which makes it difficult to find the fruit. Plants will reach 7 ft high. End results have been high production of fruit on all varieties with very limited splitting. Also apply Iron to each plant on monthly basis. I have 100% sun. Have had a few Cherokee fruits to exceed 1 lb, most are in 10 to 12 ounce size. In tomatoes size does not count, Flavor rules. When you chunk a Cherokee you will have less than a thimble of liquid in bowl.

Prosperosa is a favorite of mine. They're a bit on the round side, and small enough that my spouse and I can use an entire eggplant in a meal. Most are about grapefruit sized. The flesh is immaculately white, almost to the point it seemed unreal when slicing into them first time! We've made some great eggplant parm from these. I also like the Middle Eastern varieties of late. Eggplant is a staple food throughout much of the Middle East, and I've found those varieties are well adapted to the arid Denver climate where I live. Aswad (available from Baker Creek) has performed really well for me, but they are big plants that produce big flat-bottomed teardrop shaped fruit, so far more space is required than for the smaller Italian varieties. Someday I'll try the Asian types, but they're generally too thin for the reason I grow them - eggplant parmesan!

Speckled Purple (great nut flavor), Jewel, Beauregard, Porto Rico (bush).