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Post by heavyhitterokra on Oct 14, 2019 11:49:27 GMT -6
Killing frost.My poor Roselle plants are toast now. We had a hard freeze Saturday morning, October 12th. It was about 28 degrees down here in the bottom land. The frost sure was pretty to look at. Too bad, it had such a detrimental effect on my plants. It was cold enough to freeze a thin layer of ice on this wheelbarrow full of rainwater. I think we had about 3" inches of heavy rain, due to the abrupt drop in temperature.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Dec 6, 2019 20:50:33 GMT -6
My family came home with the creeping crud tonight. I just finished getting everyone to drink a cup of hot Roselle Tea. I sure am thankful to George, for getting us to try this wonderful herb. (It's medicine that tastes good) and it's good for you.
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Post by rdback on Dec 9, 2019 18:10:50 GMT -6
Anyone know if Roselle is deer-resistant?
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Dec 9, 2019 23:43:00 GMT -6
I kind of think the deer don't like Roselle. at least they have never bothered it to date.
I have a definite deer problem here; they chomp my sweet potato vines, they browse my paw paw trees, they murder my apple trees, they love eating my okra and my cucumber vines, but I haven't noticed them bothering my Roselle. (Knock wood).
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Jan 20, 2020 12:11:25 GMT -6
If anyone needs any Roselle seeds, I've got tens of thousands of them from the harvest I made this Autumn. I've been giving them away at the Farmers' Market, to anyone who might grow some. You might send me a SASE to save me a little on postage, but I'll work with anyone who needs any (Until I run out of seeds).
I've been giving them away as bonus packs to anyone who buys 100 or more okra seeds from me. So far, I've sold over 9,000 okra seeds in just the past two weeks, so maybe, in that way, folks across the Nation will get introduced to what George blessed the rest of us with so many years ago.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Feb 6, 2020 7:46:17 GMT -6
When I cleaned out my garden last week, I pulled up all my winter killed Roselle plants. To my great surprise, there were only 18 of them. They had spread their hundreds of very prolific branches until they looked like giant tumbleweeds! Even though I had planted them on 2' foot centers, they had intertwined to the point that I had no idea where one ended and the other began, so I thought I had planted several more than 18 starter pots in the beginning, but the proof was in the pudding when I pulled them all up and there were only 18 sets of roots.
Those were incredibly productive plants, as I harvested and sold an average of 1,000 calyces every week at the Tahlequah Farmers' Market, for weeks on end last Autumn. Plus, I dried enough of them to make over 14 gallons of Roselle tea (8 gallons of which we have already consumed this winter).
I also made about 6-gallons of Roselle tea for the hospitality tables at two sessions of the Farmers' Market last year; once at the regular Saturday Market, and once at one of our Farm to School Market days.
Roselle should become a staple in every garden across Mid-America, as it is indispensable as a source of vitamin C in winter drinks for your family to consume, nearly free of cost to the grower of those wonderful plants. Not to mention the fact that the leaves are also edible and lend a great deal of flavor to chicken or fish, when dehydrated and crumbled up as a seasoning that can also be used to help lower your salt intake.
I just cannot say enough good things about this plant. It has so many uses. Tea is only one of them. There are hundreds of recipes using Roselle as the main ingredient, from jellies, to Bar-B-Que sauces, to cake icing, to a delicious chutney used at Thanksgiving dinner. I'll post a couple of videos below, showing how to use Roselle to make tea and how to use Roselle to make jelly or jam.
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Post by ssmith on Feb 25, 2020 0:36:39 GMT -6
Does Roselle transplant ok? I started 27 seeds in a flat, thinking i’d Transplant to individual pots after germination like I do tomatoes. I know okra doesn’t transplant well. So was just wondering if I need to start some more in individual pots.
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Post by macmex on Feb 25, 2020 7:46:27 GMT -6
It does transplant well. I'd say it transplants on par with tomato seedlings, perhaps even a little more easily.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Feb 25, 2020 13:02:07 GMT -6
Roselle is very resilient and does transplant well.
Since it takes about 7 months to fully mature, it does better in the long run if you plant it in seed trays, indoors, a few weeks early, just like tomatoes.
However, if for some reason you never get around to planting it early, you can still sow seeds directly into the garden and they'll do just fine. You'll get Roselle calyces for tea still, but you might forfeit any mature seed pods before the frost comes this Autumn. Mature seeds for next year's crop is probably the main reason for starting them early, but the added benefit of a longer season to gather extra Roselle for tea is also a reason to plant as early as possible.
Best of luck! I think you'll enjoy growing Roselle.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Mar 14, 2020 15:52:39 GMT -6
Due to the recent Coronavirus frenzy, the supermarket shelves are currently stripped bare of vitamin C.
No worry though, if you've got plenty of Roselle calyces dried and stored away for Winter. I dried enough Roselle last Autumn to make about 15 gallons of tea for the Winter months. At the time, I was thinking, "I don't know why I do things like this? We'll never drink all that."
Boy, was I wrong! We're down to our last half-gallon jar of calyces. (About enough for another 80 cups). As it turned out, drying enough for 15 gallons of tea was just about the right amount. It sure feels nice to be able to brew up a batch of Roselle anytime I feel like it, especially knowing how high it is in vitamin C.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on May 21, 2020 17:27:56 GMT -6
I got 25 Roselle plants set out today. Hopefully, the rains in days to come are more kind to the Roselle, than they were to my tomatoes.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on May 21, 2020 20:39:36 GMT -6
That stuff is awesome! I sure am glad George got us hooked on growing Roselle every year. They're kind of a 'no-fail' plant. They'll even survive the deer depredation that I have out here. I've never seen a deer nibble on any of my Roselle. I wish I could say the same for my other plants.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Jun 17, 2020 9:59:30 GMT -6
On May 21st, I posted a photo of some Roselle transplants in white Plasticulture. Today, they're putting on those little 'Betty Boop" eyelashed buds, that will later become the blossoms.
These are transplants that Hank Ballard sent me this Spring. I don't know if I've ever had blooms set this early before?
I also planted some Roselle seeds directly into the soil and had forgotten about them until today. They were in an okra row, so all this time, I thought they were baby okra plants, then, when I looked closer this morning; I saw that they were baby Roselle seedlings. That was a happy surprise.
I'm not able to access my camera right now, or I'd post some photos.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Jun 22, 2020 18:43:17 GMT -6
I've already got two red calyces on one of the Roselle plants that Hank sent me this Spring. Only three more calyces to go and I'll have enough for a cup of tea.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Jul 1, 2020 8:33:43 GMT -6
I harvested my first Roselle and about a dozen blackberries this morning. My blueberry bushes are covered with ripe fruit that I need to take time to pick. I've just been so busy with weeding and watering that I haven't gotten around to it yet.
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