Bean 'Black Valentine' vs Eggplant 'Turkish Orange': Which to Sow
By The Diggers Club - Australia's No.1 Gardening Club | Published: 2026-11-02
Category: Comparisons
Compare Bean 'Black Valentine' and Eggplant 'Turkish Orange' on space, climate, harvest use and effort to decide which warm-season seed suits your patch.
Quick answer
Sow Bean 'Black Valentine' if you want a fast, dual-purpose bush crop that tolerates cool starts; choose Eggplant 'Turkish Orange' if you have a warm, sheltered spot and want compact, colourful fruit for stuffing and grilling.
Space and habit: bush bean vs compact eggplant
Black Valentine is a bush bean, so it grows as a self-supporting clump rather than a climbing vine. That makes it easier to slot into a bed or large pot without building a trellis. Turkish Orange eggplant stays compact too, but it is a fruiting solanum rather than a legume, so it needs full sun and steady warmth to set fruit well. In small gardens, the bean gives you pods sooner; the eggplant asks for a prime sunny position but returns striking fruit over a longer pick.
Climate and sowing window
The bean's key advantage is cool tolerance: Black Valentine can handle cooler temperatures than many beans, which widens your sowing window in marginal spring weather. Turkish Orange is described as thriving in warm weather, so it is a better fit once nights have settled. If you garden in a cooler zone or want to start earlier, the bean is the lower-risk choice. If you have a hot, sheltered bed or a warm pot position, the eggplant earns its place.
Harvest use and kitchen fit
Black Valentine is genuinely dual-purpose: pick the 15cm green pods young as a snap bean, or leave them to dry for a black soup bean. That flexibility means one sowing can cover fresh eating and storage. Turkish Orange is harvested as the fruit turns from green to cream, when it is tender and sweet, and is best used fresh for stuffing, grilling or Mediterranean dishes. Neither is a substitute for the other in the kitchen, so the choice is really about whether you want pods or fruit.
Trade-offs to weigh before you sow
- Speed vs patience: Black Valentine is a bush bean you can pick as a snap bean or leave for soup beans; Turkish Orange is grown for fruit and needs warm weather to perform. Choose the bean if you want a quicker, dual-purpose crop; choose the eggplant if you are prepared to wait for a warm season. If your spring is cool or short, the bean is the safer bet.
- Trellis vs prime sun: The bush bean avoids trellising but still needs room to spread; the compact eggplant fits pots and beds but demands the sunniest, warmest spot you have. Neither is a shade crop. Audit your sun before ordering: eggplant is the less forgiving of low light.
- Fresh pods vs stuffing fruit: Black Valentine gives 15cm green pods for fresh use and black seeds for soup; Turkish Orange gives tender, sweet fruit for stuffing and grilling. Pick based on what you actually cook, not on which seed packet looks prettier. If you want both, sow them in separate beds rather than interplanting, so each gets the conditions it needs.
Product facts
- Bean 'Black Valentine' (Organic): Heirloom dating to 1897; bush bean with 15cm green pods and black seeds. A bush habit plus dual snap/soup use makes it a space-efficient, multi-purpose sowing.
Bean 'Black Valentine' (Organic) - Eggplant 'Turkish Orange': Compact Turkish heirloom with tennis ball-sized red-orange fruit, best picked as it turns from green to cream. Its small stature suits pots, but the colour-change harvest window means you need to check plants often.
Eggplant 'Turkish Orange'
Which should you sow?
Best for
- Gardeners in cooler or marginal spring conditions who want a reliable bush bean.
- Small plots or pots where a trellis is impractical and a dual-purpose snap/soup crop is useful.
Not for
- Anyone wanting fruit for stuffing or grilling rather than pods.
- Shady beds or gardens where warmth arrives late and eggplant would struggle to set fruit.
