Violetta Lunga Eggplant. Purple, long, tasty, and productive. Grown throughout Italy - another of my ancestral homelands. Sad to say my great aunt Rita, younger daughter of my Italian great grandparents, just passed away at 91, before I could have all the conversations and share all the meals I wanted to have with her. I hadn't told her I'd met farmers who are likely our relatives, living in the same town in Connecticut that our family settled in, working also in the textile mills, and from the same tiny village of Salento in Campania, south of Naples (Salento Farm, Shelton, CT). I was able to tell Aunt Rita's children and grandchildren (my cousins), and they shared the family documents with me, including a Blumenthal & Co. publication that described my great great grandfather Vincenzo aka James Laurello working from 3pm to dark every day in his gardens so his wife Angelina aka Julia (DeMarco) was kept busy canning corn, beans, and tomatoes for the winter. Anyways, very excited for this eggplant, and to keep digging deeper into family food history! #violettalunga #violettalungaeggplant #longpurpleeggplant #italianeggplant #openpollinated #blumenthalandco #salentocampania #campania #salentovillage (at Newtown Square, Pennsylvania)