Friday, August 26, 2011

In the Garden

...and in over my head, literally...

i'm 5'5" tall, that's the top of my head and those plants are okra

...and figuratively. I'm squeezed between an upcoming vacation and processing today's garden haul before I leave so I only have time for  a few highlights from this week.

6 different kinds of tomatoes and 2 kinds of eggplant

a good shot of the okra flower still eludes; yes, those are aphids

huh? yep, those are dirty clothes: gardening sarongs and a long sleeved
t-shirt that used to be white; more on dressing for the garden next week

Head on over to No Ordinary Homestead's Garden Life  to continue the celebration. I bet they're not airing dirty laundry.

5 comments:

  1. I've never grown okra before. In fact I don't think I've ever eaten okra before. The flower is so pretty. It looks like a huge mallow flower. I am curious to try growing it. Possibly next year!

    Coming over from Garden Life link up.

    Kateri @ http://dandelionhaven.blogspot.com/

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  2. I am so jealous of your okra. Seriously. Need to make sure I get more seeds for okra this winter so we can try growing it again here...and then get it to seedling stage way early since our season is so short.

    I had to chuckle about your airing dirty laundry comment -- very witty :)
    Hope you have a great vacation!

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  3. Hey Kateri! My husband & I both grew up with Southern influences in the kitchen so okra was something we saw regularly in the summer. We use it for soups or gumbo and occasionally we'll fry it in cornmeal -- yum!-- although there are lots of ways to cook and eat it. It's an ingredient used by cultures all over the world.

    Some people are turned off by okra's slimy nature (it's mucilaginous), especially if they've only had it boiled, but that's one of the things that makes it a great ingredient. You can, literally, 'cook the snot out of it" by cooking it a long time or mixing it with something acidic, like tomatoes or vinegar. It's sold in the frozen foods section of most grocery stores so you might want to add a bag to your next tomato-based vegetable soup and try it out. Hope you enjoy it!

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  4. TIffany, is there anyone near you who grows okra? Local seeds might help overcome whatever problems you had before. If you see someone at the farmers' market you might ask if you can get some of their overgrown pods. You know how it is, no matter how carefully you pick there are always a few that get missed several times in a row and viola! a gigantic, inedible pod. My excuse now is, "Oh no, I was saving that one for seeds."

    Thanks & thanks! I'm lovin' the cooler climes of Seattle... sigh.

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  5. oh yeah, my husband says I have enough overgrown okra pods to seed an acre. tsk.

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