Musing on How Does Your Okra Grow?
- My babies.
Gardens are funny.
You think you know what’s planted — then once everything starts to mature, it becomes obvious some things are missing.
Okra.
Now if you told me last September I’d be to this point in the summer of 2011 without any okra in my garden I would have REJOICED.
Last summer okra was squeezing out my eye sockets and growing out from under my toenails.
But this year as everything got big enough to identify, I realized none of the okra transplants made it. The drought was hard on everything. We replanted or reseeded quite a few things.
Suddenly, I couldn’t bear a summer without frying, stewing or eating any stripped off the plant right in the garden. Then there was the pickling I planned on.
So yesterday I searched.
Went to Wal*Mart and Lowe’s — and every tomato, pepper, watermelon was gasping for water — but no okra. Even dried up, hurting okra. Everybody already had their okra.
Everybody but me.
And what’s in my garden destined for my frying pan is all that matters.
Then I remembered Southern States.
At Southern States, I looked up and over, down and under the shelves on their front porch. I unearthed about six plants. I took home the three healthiest.
Well, two of the healthiest. One’s puny but I’m hoping to rebuild him a la Steve Austin.
My Charlie Brown okra plant. Any weeds appearing in picture are photoshopped for authenticity.
- A healthy specimen.
So there’s okra in the garden.
I’m happy.
If it would only rain, I would be ecstatic.
How does your okra grow?
Do you really want me to leave a comment about my okra? Ya remember last year when it was taller than me and ate me up. I didn’t plant any this year. As a matter of fact, I just had some fried okra I bought from the store and it was delish! And my arms aren’t eat up from picking it, even better.
No way. No okra for you this year? I need to take a field trip to your farm. Just made an appt for mamo today. Be seeing you for the BigSquish soon.