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Post by Tucson Grower on May 15, 2023 15:07:13 GMT -6
Reminds me of the first modem connected computer terminal I practiced programming on; in 1974. It used a paper tape that the machine punched holes in, about 2 inches wide and as long as you needed it to be. The main computer was about the size of a refrigerator and located at a nearby university library. Our machine connected by modem, with its own rubber cradle for the telephone handset to rest in. It used a programming language called, "BASIC".
Every morning now, my first two rows have several okra blossoms on both the HH and SIR. A few have set fruit. I can hardly wait to take my first bite.
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Post by FrostyTurnip on May 15, 2023 15:43:55 GMT -6
LOL
I hope it doesn’t mildew.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on May 18, 2023 21:05:01 GMT -6
Well, good news here, the load of feed that got rained on on the way home from the feed store seems to have dried out just fine. It was so humid that I didn't know if a fan in the barn would be enough to keep it from getting mildewed, but today when I opened a few bags to refill the feed barrels it was dry and clean looking.
Just a note to self, I've got the five longest rows in my garden planted with okra and I've got the skips on 4 and a half of them replanted. Sometimes, if you don't make notes to yourself, you lose your place during planting season and end up replanting the same place twice. That's very frustrating when you accidentally dig up seeds that have already germinated but haven't broken ground yet. (Happens just about every year here).
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Post by Tucson Grower on May 19, 2023 10:13:20 GMT -6
I just finished giving the first 2, F1 rows a side-dressing of granular organic fert. (2-5-3). I used a pointed 1/2 inch diameter iron rod to poke a hole about 6 inches deep, then I'd gently rotate the rod to make the hole a little wider, afterwards I'd drop a couple of fists full of the fert. in, then water generously. This gave me the opportunity to carefully examine each plant. Fruits on several plants are approaching the size I like them for eating raw. Nice contrast between HH fruits (green) and SIR fruits (dark red). So far I haven't pollinated any, but I will, soon.
I like eating okra in every way it is prepared, but I especially like it fresh and raw. Why wait to cook it, before eating it? It is most delicious raw, and the red pigments are especially nutritious and are destroyed by heat.
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Post by Tucson Grower on May 19, 2023 12:42:00 GMT -6
Here are a few cell phone pics, to help -->
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Post by chrysanthemum on May 19, 2023 17:33:07 GMT -6
Heavyhitterokra, great news about the feed. Thanks for following up on that.
Tucson Grower, those are looking really nice. You’ve got quite some cactus in the background of your photos, too. It’s quite a striking illustration of your desert garden.
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Post by Tucson Grower on May 19, 2023 18:39:53 GMT -6
Yep, between the peanut plantings in the front and the rows of okra behind, there is a strip of native vegetation. A couple of blooming Saguaro cacti, sagebrush, various Opuntia species, barrel cacti, creosote bush, there are many ironwood, palo verde and mesquite trees, along with a half-dozen or so smaller species of cacti.
Other cell phone pics -->
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Post by FrostyTurnip on May 19, 2023 18:40:10 GMT -6
Thanks for sharing the photos, Tucs. This is AMAZING. I’m not hyping. Outstanding job in a desert climate with your water conservation; the mini swales and the living mulches. I have never grown any other okra than HH. It can get to 7 foot tall for me with good care. But under intentional neglect and hardship, it was short like those and they STILL produced as long as I kept picking them. I bet the flavor is intense.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on May 20, 2023 2:54:14 GMT -6
Tucson,
Those photos helped immensely to better 'picture' your gardening situation up there. Maybe, in the future, those photos might also help some of us to think up new ways to better conserve and distribute your irrigation under those circumstances.
Thanks, for sharing those quality photos. You seem to have a real knack for desert gardening and a real eye for the camera too!
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Post by Tucson Grower on May 20, 2023 11:49:15 GMT -6
Okay, I just ate my first okra of the season. It was a SIR. Though it was skinnier than the HH, it was twice as long. HH will be next, either tomorrow, Sunday or the day after, Monday. The SIR was dark red enough to perhaps justify the name, "Diane's Purple". Now all I need to do is breed that color into HH traits.
It was delicious, though barely more than a mouthful - I want more.
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Post by Tucson Grower on May 20, 2023 22:37:38 GMT -6
I couldn't wait. I went out to water, early - 9:00 - 9:30 pm. I picked 4 HH fruits, 3-4 inches long, and ate them raw; very yummy.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on May 21, 2023 5:31:51 GMT -6
I used to sell Reasor's supermarket 100 pounds of okra per week during the growing season. It would amaze their employees to see that when okra was fresh, it was good to eat raw. After I showed them that, they would meet me at the front door as I unloaded the truck and would follow my cart through the store, eating okra off the top as I made my way to the produce aisle. That was cool to see so many people enjoying themselves.
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Post by hmoosek on May 21, 2023 7:43:16 GMT -6
Reminds me of the first modem connected computer terminal I practiced programming on; in 1974. It used a paper tape that the machine punched holes in, about 2 inches wide and as long as you needed it to be. The main computer was about the size of a refrigerator and located at a nearby university library. Our machine connected by modem, with its own rubber cradle for the telephone handset to rest in. It used a programming language called, "BASIC".
Every morning now, my first two rows have several okra blossoms on both the HH and SIR. A few have set fruit. I can hardly wait to take my first bite. “Basic” was the first language I learned around 82ish. After learning and using “Basic” for so long, I remember “windows” being very foreign to me.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on May 23, 2023 20:11:42 GMT -6
I just finished planting my first 7.5 rows today, 1,350 seeds in all, which was sort of a letdown, as I thought I had planted 8.5 rows.
At the end of the day, I looked down toward the end and thought to myself, "I can't believe I've only got 3.5 more rows to go before I'm finished!"
Then, as I was walking away, I saw that somehow I had skipped a row toward dusk and was one row farther over than I thought I was.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on May 26, 2023 16:43:09 GMT -6
Two of my three sons came to visit here Saturday and Sunday. I had to bag off the garden to mow and weed-eat the whole place. That took the three of us about 5 or 6 hours to accomplish. I went back yesterday and planted the row that I missed on the 23rd, then carried on to finish planting the rest of 10.5 rows of okra. I'm beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel finally.
I probably could have finished planting today, but I had to take off several more hours to spray the whole place for ticks and grasshoppers. Next, I'll have to take off time to change the mulch layer on the tractor for the tiller and get some of these garden weeds under control.
This has been an extremely busy two weeks, trying to make up time lost to several days of rain.
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