Hey Fellow Floridians - Year 2

[Fiishergurl]

My seedlings should have been in Florida by now. Most are in painters cups which are taller than solo cups. I hope I will be able to get them home. My work keeps interfering with my schedule to get home.

Ginny

[Fiishergurl]

Originally Posted by ginger2778

Finished sowing all my tomato and sunflower seeds. What a job- glad its only once per year.

Barb, maybe I can keep one of your pepper plants sice you will be bringing them, very considerate of you. I am so excited to see you again.

Others here, you are all welcome to come for the swap. No hard feelings if you dont either.This year there will be several Tvillers as well as the local garden club, master gardener, community garden folks. I think if I get good germination, I am going to have close to 450 tomato plants, lol.

Amazing!! I dont know how you do it... :-)

Ginny

[Fiishergurl]

Originally Posted by GrowingCoastal

Where is all the okra? Is there a problem with growing it or is there not enough to ship north? I cannot find okra, not even canned, in any store I look in around here. I did find some 'fresh' but it turned moldy overnight in the fridge. It's as much of a mystery to shop keepers as it is to me. I don't use a lot of it but miss the flavour it gives. It is too cool for it to do well here on this coast. This year, not even one plant survived.

I dont know the answer but if you do find out please let us know. I hope its not another crop/animal/sea life etc that is having problems do to our pollutuon, pesticides etc.

Ginny

[Zone9b]

Originally Posted by GrowingCoastal

Where is all the okra? Is there a problem with growing it or is there not enough to ship north? I cannot find okra, not even canned, in any store I look in around here. I did find some 'fresh' but it turned moldy overnight in the fridge. It's as much of a mystery to shop keepers as it is to me. I don't use a lot of it but miss the flavour it gives. It is too cool for it to do well here on this coast. This year, not even one plant survived.

I see it in the store here and even though it is a traditional Southern Food I don't think the demand is very high and while I suspect it ships well enough I am guessing that there isn't a huge demand for it outside the Southern US. I'm guessing the the main reason is the mucilage (goo). Of course it can be prepared so the goo is reduced substantively. Many fry it to do this others soak it in vinegar, etc. I eat it mostly in stews and go with "The slime is divine".
You probably have the best chance of buying where it isn't sold fresh as a frozen food. I have bought it frozen on occasion in the past.
As far as growing here I am guessing it is best to grow it in a container although I know large quantities of it is grown here in the soil. But, nematodes may be an issue, I'm not sure. I grew each of my plants in a 10 gallon pot filled with compost and set each on a concrete paver, so the pot didn't touch the ground.
Thanks for your interest.
Larry
PS: The other plant that worked well for me in the Summer Heat Garden was Pinkeye Purple Hull Cowpeas. They were very productive and I believe most will be dry by the time I need the native soil garden for Kale and Brussel Sprouts.

[efisakov]

We have okra sold in stores here in NJ. In most stores. No problem with it. Good for cooking, eating raw is a different thing.

[ginger2778]

Originally Posted by Fiishergurl

Amazing!! I dont know how you do it... :-)

Ginny

Thanks Ginny, it's so much fun. I always have gardening friends who help on the transplant new seedling to 4" pot days, and its no problem to keep them sprayed and watered, and drop another pinch of fert at the 4 week old mark. Friends with trucks will help me transfer to the community garden for the event.
I love it.

[ginger2778]

Originally Posted by efisakov

Larry, I looked up Stewart’s Zeebest Heirloom Okra. Wow, it can grow to 8 feet tall. Really unique plant. Thanks for sharing this info.

Marsha, 450 tomato plants? I understand if someone has a farm and grow that many seedlings. You must be exhausted.

Its only very intense at seed sowing, and at transplant to 4" pot days, the rest isnt very time consuming. I only will grow a little over 100 myself, but when they get big they are lots of work.
Replenishing 43 earthboxes takes 14 days, doing 3 every day and 4 the last day. They take about 20 minutes each.

[ginger2778]

Originally Posted by efisakov

How is every one doing after Hermine? Hope it was not to bad.

Reporting:
Watermelon and melon dried just fine, I was not sure they would. Taste pretty good, watermelon is a bit too sweet. Tomatoes are better that way. They are sweet and sour, perfect combination.

Peaches have an excellent taste but I got lazy and did not presoak them to prevent oxidation.

Zucchini dry the fastest. They are fine eating like that. Of cause, they are mild in taste. But would be great as chips for dipping. Envisioning them with home made fresh salsa. Have noticed, if they a bit too dry the skin makes them curl upwards a bit, making like scoops. Was wondering, if towards the end they can be helped to form into scoops even more.

Barb, I tasted raw zucchini for the first time this year. There are advertisements about making spaghetti looking like dish with raw zucchini. It was surprisingly good tasting. Nice crunchy taste. Of cause it was home grown, not store bought.

So excited about next year. Already thinking about all other foods I can dehydrate. Not that we spend too much time watching TV, still snacking at that time is a problem. Making healthy and tasty snacks is in my mind. The once you are not afraid to indulge in.

Both me and my DH are good cooks and do not eat out too often. Not that we can not afford it. The food we make is so much tastier and we can make it healthier as well. Plus we love doing that. And as many agreed, the taste of home made dehydrated mangos (thank you Marsha) are the best.

Marsha, I was looking at the silicon mats on ebay already. The best price was about 10 bucks per mat or so. Is that a good price? How many would you suggest is enough for your experience? 3, 5?

Those look delicious, Ella. I got the 5 pack.

[ginger2778]

Originally Posted by Fiishergurl

My seedlings should have been in Florida by now. Most are in painters cups which are taller than solo cups. I hope I will be able to get them home. My work keeps interfering with my schedule to get home.

Ginny

Gee Ginny, they look to be transplant size already. How are you going to get them home?
Whatcha growing?

[ginger2778]

Originally Posted by Zone9b

I see it in the store here and even though it is a traditional Southern Food I don't think the demand is very high and while I suspect it ships well enough I am guessing that there isn't a huge demand for it outside the Southern US. I'm guessing the the main reason is the mucilage (goo). Of course it can be prepared so the goo is reduced substantively. Many fry it to do this others soak it in vinegar, etc. I eat it mostly in stews and go with "The slime is divine".
You probably have the best chance of buying where it isn't sold fresh as a frozen food. I have bought it frozen on occasion in the past.
As far as growing here I am guessing it is best to grow it in a container although I know large quantities of it is grown here in the soil. But, nematodes may be an issue, I'm not sure. I grew each of my plants in a 10 gallon pot filled with compost and set each on a concrete paver, so the pot didn't touch the ground.
Thanks for your interest.
Larry
PS: The other plant that worked well for me in the Summer Heat Garden was Pinkeye Purple Hull Cowpeas. They were very productive and I believe most will be dry by the time I need the native soil garden for Kale and Brussel Sprouts.

Interesting post Larry. What do you do with cowpeas, I never grew them.

[ginger2778]

Originally Posted by efisakov

We have okra sold in stores here in NJ. In most stores. No problem with it. Good for cooking, eating raw is a different thing.

I don't even eat the raw ones from my own garden.
I roast them in a 425F oven cut into 1/2 inch pieces, lightly tossed in olive oil, a tiny bit of kosher salt, and fresh cracked pepper. 15 minutes they are done, and crunchy, not slimey.

[efisakov]

Originally Posted by ginger2778

I don't even eat the raw ones from my own garden.
I roast them in a 425F oven cut into 1/2 inch pieces, lightly tossed in olive oil, a tiny bit of kosher salt, and fresh cracked pepper. 15 minutes they are done, and crunchy, not slimey.

I have to try this recipe, once I get few of them. I usually eat baby okra. I do not even let them get to a 2.5 inches long.

[Imthechuck]

Originally Posted by efisakov

I have to try this recipe, once I get few of them. I usually eat baby okra. I do not even let them get to a 2.5 inches long.

I stink at getting to them in time........

[Barb_FL]

Ginny - your seedlings are beautiful. Are you planning to separate the ones in the solo cups? If so, you might want to do that now even if it is in a paint cup and will be replanted later.

Marsha - do you sow in individual cells or multiples per cell / 4" square? What a day you must have had.

Kay - Forgot to mention but the peppers on Buena Mulata are about 1/2 red. Both plants are loaded.

[Zone9b]

Originally Posted by ginger2778

Interesting post Larry. What do you do with cowpeas, I never grew them.

Originally Posted by ginger2778

I don't even eat the raw ones from my own garden.
I roast them in a 425F oven cut into 1/2 inch pieces, lightly tossed in olive oil, a tiny bit of kosher salt, and fresh cracked pepper. 15 minutes they are done, and crunchy, not slimey.

Marsha,
It is said that you can eat cowpeas in the various stages of their development. When the pods are young and green cut them up and use as a green bean. I've tried this and it hasn't worked well for me. Pick them when they start to mature, i.e. turn the mature color of the pod and use them as peas. This I am doing now and works ok. The third stage when they dry and the pod turns dry and light brown you can use them as a dried bean. This works best for me.
The pinkeye purple hull was very productive for me in native soil this summer but the variety is not nematode resistant. Mississippi Silver is a variety which is said to be very productive and is nematode resistant and I hope to try this variety next.
UF IFAS has recommended using nematode resistant cowpeas as a cover crop between crops such as tomatoes for nematode control.
https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/IN/IN51600.pdf
Thanks for the Okra recipe. I plan to give it a try.
Larry