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Post by fourteenmilecreek on Feb 4, 2015 12:29:58 GMT -6
On the advice of a friend, I'm going to plant some Heavy Hitter okra seeds in big, deep pots at the end of this month, to see if I can get an early start on harvest. I've heard okra doesn't transplant well, so I've never tried doing it before; it will be a good experiment!
I just got through planting 72 ROYAL HILLBILLY TOMATO SEEDS, I'm very excited about that; from reading about, and looking at photos, of the plants from Darrell Merrill, who selected this variety from a variation of Hillbilly; it looks to me like a much more desirable tomato than the old Hillbilly used to be.
Oh how I wish my Grandma Fannie could be here with me to see these new things people are growing! She was born in 1898 and during the late 1930s - early '40s she and Grandpa Joe ran a tomato canning plant over in the Okay, Oklahoma area. She told me stories about so many tomatoes that they would blanch them in a cast iron, claw foot bathtub, full of boiling water; and sealed them in tin cans, using a round soldering iron. They kept the soldering iron red hot in the wood coals under the iron bathtub full of boiling water. (What a job to have in the month of July!)
This time of year, her and I would be sitting on the couch together, nose deep in seed catalogs; just dreaming away at what the garden would be like!
She kept a 135' foot long by 95' foot wide vegetable garden... believe me, it was spotless! Not a weed one anywhere; and she used nothing but a garden hoe to do it. One time, she threatened to "Skin us alive!" for bringing a roto-tiller over there to help her...
When we unloaded it out of the truck and fired it up, she came after us with her old crooked cane, just a waving it in the air...and shouting, "That thing'll chop up the roots and kill all my plants! Get that noisy contraption out of here!"
Knowing she had raised thirteen kids and had never so much as swatted one of them, we weren't too scared, but no one ever crossed her just the same, so we loaded the tiller back in the truck and took up our hoes.
How I miss those days!
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Post by glen on Feb 6, 2015 17:09:38 GMT -6
This is why you should be eating okra. Okra: The Wonder Vegetable – 22 The Amazing Health Benefits Of Okra
One of the best medicinal vegetables is known as Okra. When you read this article, we are sure that you will start using Okra in your daily diet.
What is Okra?
This medicinal vegetable is cultivated throughout the tropical and warm temperate regions around the world for its fibrous fruits or “pods”. The Okra can be eaten as a vegetable. “Lady’s finger” i.e. Okra is belonging to the Malvaceae (mallows) family and is named scientifically as Abelmoschus esculentus.
Why you should include Okra in your diet?
Health benefits of Okra are a long list:Okra The Wonder Vegetable – 22 The Amazing Health Benefits Of Okra
1. Lowers Cholesterol: Okra(soluble fiber pectin) helps in lowering the serum (bad)cholesterol and prevents atherosclerosis.
2. For Pregnancy and Fetal development: Okra is helping not onlyin conceiving but also in fetus’s brain development, prevention of miscarriages, formation of the fetal neural tube, and preventing any defects in the tube.
3. Skin Detoxifier: Okra ( Vitamin C, fiber aids toxic) is used in repairing body tissues, psoriasis, reducing acne, preventing skin pigmentation, and other skin conditions.
4. Treats Genital Disorders: Okra treats genital disorders like syphilis, excessive menstrual bleedin,leucorrhoea, dysuria,gonorrhoeaand increases sexual potency.
5. For Asthma: It can curtail the development of asthma symptoms and prevent fatal attacks. Okra is helping with its high amount of vitamin C, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties.
6. Lowers Colon cancer risk: Okra with its insoluble fiber cleans out the intestinal tract, decreasing the risk of colon-rectal cancer. The high antioxidants in Okra helps protect the immune system against harmful free radicals and prevent mutation of cells.
7. Immunity Booster: Okra is a good immune booster food high in antioxidants and vitamin C. Other essential minerals like calcium, iron, magnesium, manganese, fight against harmful free radicals and promote healthy immune system.
8. Rich Fiber Source: Okrahelps in better digestion, and regularization of bowels with its fibers. Pectin (the Okra’s fiber), swells up in the intestine and helps in easier elimination of the wastes from the intestine.
9. Rich Protein Source: The excellent source of first-rate vegetable protein and oils, cystine, enriched with amino acids like tryptophan, and other sulfur amino acids content in the seeds of Okra.
10. Lively Hair: Okra is a great hair conditioner, fights dandruff and lice, scalp moisturizer for dry and itchy scalp and adds a youthful sheen to your hair.
11. Treats Sun strokes: Okra relieves from overall depression, weakness, and exhaustion.
12. Relieves Constipation: with themucilaginous and rich fiber content in Okra pods help increase stool bulk, bind to toxins, ensure easy bowel movements, facilitate proper absorption of water, lubricate the large intestineswith its natural laxative properties.
13. Probiotics Feed: The good bacteria (probiotics) in the intestines, thrive on Okra acting greatly to the health of the intestinal tract. It helps biosynthesis of Vitamin B complex, similar to how yoghurt serves the small intestine.
14. For Diabetes: Okra helps reduce the blood sugar levels. The type of fiber found in Okra i.e. Eugenol, helps to stabilize blood sugar by curbing the rate at which sugar is absorbed from the intestinal tract.
15. Feeds Blood Network: Okra helps to support the structure of blood capillaries (eating plenty of flavonoid and vitamin C-rich fruits and vegetables).
16. Respiratory soother: for treating bronchitis and pneumonia you should use a decoction of leaves and flowers of Okra. Its mucilaginous (slimy, gluey) quality makes it an excellent home remedy for treatment of common cold and flu.
17. Prevents Anemia: in the hemoglobin formation aid iron, folate and vitamin K, blood coagulation, and red blood cells production, providing a supreme defense against anemia.
18. Prevents Obesity: the Okra’s fiberhelps in keeping you full for longer, and the abundant nutrients nourish you. This medicinal vegetable provides us with minimum calories.
19. Detoxification: Okra contains fiber that not only aids the stool function but the mucilage that binds cholesterol and bile acid, dumped into it by the filtering liver and ejecting toxins.
20. Cures Ulcers: Okra contains the alkaline mucilaginous that help neutralizeacids and provides a temporary protective coating for the digestive tract speeding up the healing of peptic ulcers.
21. For Strong Bones: for the vital blood-clotting process and along with Folates, vitamin K is a co – factor for strengthening bones and preventing, osteoporosis and restoring bone density,
22. Clear Vision: for preventing eye problems like a glaucoma and cataract Okra contains beta-carotenes (precursor of vitamin A), all antioxidant properties, lutein and xanthine.
If you want to live healthy you must use this medicinal vegetable. I eat it for reason number 4. Which reason do you eat it?
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Post by snickeringbear on Feb 6, 2015 17:54:53 GMT -6
You have syphilis? TMI!
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Post by fourteenmilecreek on Feb 6, 2015 18:32:05 GMT -6
I just eat it because I like fried okra....
Which reminds me; the chefs at the Hospital won't buy okra from us, because they say, " No one likes okra unless it's fried, and we don't serve fried food!"
Does anyone know a good way to cook okra that's not slimy, if you don't fry it?
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Post by glen on Feb 7, 2015 7:48:34 GMT -6
Ron, Sincé when did hospitals worry about whether their food tasted slimy or not? There are plenty of jokes about hospital food going around to this day. Oh well. Okra is just not popular. And, slimy. Comment complaint. Just can't please everyone.
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Post by snickeringbear on Feb 7, 2015 8:38:03 GMT -6
I've had okra baked in the oven that was pretty good. You might experiment some this summer and come up with a recipe that works for a hospital. It is important to serve it hot, it gets rubbery if left to cool. Google Baked or Roasted okra.
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Post by fourteenmilecreek on Feb 7, 2015 10:41:55 GMT -6
Thanks snickeringbear, for the ideas, and Glen, you wouldn't believe it out here. I've always thought the same thing as you said about hospital food...
But the Hospital up here has a bonafide gourmet chef on staff, and several really awesome cooks that work for him! I've seen him outside roasting 7 suckling pigs at the same time. They cook them in a smoker that they built on a trailer. It's made in the shape of a T with the firebox intersecting the mid section of the meat box (pretty cool set-up) it's huge! It can take 3 pigs laying lengthwise on each side, and one laying nose to tail down the middle!
If I had the time, I could probably be happy, just watching them at work all day. Once, I walked in with a produce delivery, and found them all busy patting table grapes with creamed goat cheese, then sprinkling them with powdered sugar, before arranging them on several platters. (What hospital goes to those lengths to serve food that looks and tastes that great)? Their soup of the day looks like it came out of a gardening catalog; two different colors of carrots, Frenched green beans, little yellow, and little red, sliced tomatoes, three colors of sliced peppers, fresh green peas...
They have a wide variety of freshly baked bread goods; I think they start cooking about 5:00 am ?
Every now and then, they have a custom egg omelet bar; omelets cooked to order with sauteed mushrooms, peppers, green onions, ham, and topped with sprinkles of cheddar cheese as you watch and wait. People stand in line for about a block to get their omelets. (Partly, because the omelets are compliments of the Hospital) but mainly, because it's such a show to watch; as several chefs are lined up, cooking on several portable propane burners, set up along the length of several 8 foot tables, cooking about 700 hand scrambled, fresh eggs; and they serve Starbucks coffee!
Their roast beef is sliced, and arranged, on a bed of minced sweet onions, and topped with roasted red peppers, green peppers, yellow peppers, bits of yellow sweet corn, and laced with French style green beans, then drizzled lightly with brown gravy... You wouldn't believe it. No special occasion, just the everyday fare.
People come from all around to eat in their hospital cafeteria. Even people visiting loved ones in other hospitals, will drive all the way over there just to eat at this hospital! It's funny watching Doctors from the hospital down the road come sneaking over there for the great food. Scrambled eggs, gravy, and a homemade biscuit cost $1.20 It's very affordable to eat there.
We have a five acre Certified Organic farm, their chefs drive out here to custom order fresh vegetables from us. We take orders a year ahead of time for planting; whatever they want is what they get. We grow everything from Morel Mushrooms, wild onions, and wild poke, to Asian Eggplant, Zucchini Squash, Summer Squash, Cabbage, Black Eyed Peas, Green Beans, several varieties of Cucumbers, Melons, eight varieties of Tomatoes, Beets, Radishes, Turnips, corn, Pumpkins, Sweet Potatoes, Basil, Rosemary, Sage, Parsley, Peppers, Cut Flowers, Peanuts, Popcorn, about 5,000 Candy Onions, and... (Oh, I forgot the okra), but they won't buy that...
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Post by duckcreekfarms on Feb 7, 2015 12:33:13 GMT -6
Ron I would love to know how to grow Morel Mushrooms. Can you give recommendations? thanks
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Post by glen on Feb 7, 2015 16:32:55 GMT -6
Ron, today I decided to plant more okra. I got nothing else to do I guess. I got out the trusty pick axe and chopped away until I dug 5, 2 feet wide holes in my hard compacted terrible sort of Sandy and clay, full of rocks and debris soil. Took me several hours as I am just not cut out for that sort of work. Anyway, I raked the yucky soil back into the holes, mixed 2 shovels full of compost into the planting holes and planted heavy hitter seed. The plants have about 5 feet of space between them in all directions with palms and papaya's as neighbors. I planted 4 sedes in each spot. If these plants make it it will be a testimonial to the toughness and durability of the species. Wish me luck. I am going to need it. It is Feb 7 and it is 86 degrees inside my house at 530 in the afternoon. It won't rain for another 3 months either as it is gardening hell here. Wish me luck.
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Post by fourteenmilecreek on Feb 8, 2015 0:10:56 GMT -6
To: duckcreekfarms,
In response to your inquiry about Morel Mushrooms, I've started a new thread called: Growing, Hunting, and Gathering, Morel Mushrooms. unfortunately, I am unfamiliar with the proper navigation of the Seed Savers website, and have inadvertently posted it under the category of Okra, but maybe someone will happen on to it someday, and add to it over time.
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Post by macmex on Feb 8, 2015 7:27:49 GMT -6
Ron. I didn't notice it. I will move it for you sometime soon.
By the way, my wife and I sauté our okra, only lightly coating the pan with olive oil. We don't bread it either. We just cross cut it, lightly sauté it, and season with Rosemary and oregano. I can't imagine anything unhealthy about that.
One of my friends is currently a patient in Tahlequah City Hospital. She started out complaining about the food... until after her first meal. After that, she's been looking forward to each meal!
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Post by glen on Feb 8, 2015 9:03:11 GMT -6
My favorite way to eat okra is to roast in in the oven coated with a Little oil and your favorite seasonings. It it burns a Little that is even better.
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Post by fourteenmilecreek on Feb 8, 2015 14:37:35 GMT -6
Glen,
Good Luck with your second planting of okra. How is your first planting of okra doing? Did it make it past the chickens?
You think it's gardening hell there, you should try planting something out here in February and see what happens to it. It would be awesome to see some green plants coming up right now! I envy your okra experiment in the new garden spot.
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Post by glen on Feb 9, 2015 9:14:51 GMT -6
Ron, the first planting has come up nicely. Planted on Jan 24. The heavy hitter okra is about 4 or 5 inches tall, with secondary leaves and look strong. The Zeebest okra came up later and are a Little smaller. Second planting on Jan 31, Plants are 2 inches tall. I have not thinned yet. Third planting has not germinated. The first 2 plantings are intercropped with sweet potato's. I have read that that is not a good thing to do. Even planting okra where sweet potato's have previously been planted is not recommended according to what I have read. We'll see what happens. I don't believe that the sweet potato's are going to bother the okra since I planted with 4 feet of space between plants. I have to try to make full use of the Little bit of garden space available.
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Post by fourteenmilecreek on Feb 9, 2015 16:47:05 GMT -6
Bill Tolbert in Liberia, Africa inter-crops my Heavy Hitter okra with his onions and reports they out produce Clemson Spineless, about 2 to 1.
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