Planting Okra

Right about now, you should be planting okra, especially if you live in the South. Okra loves the summer sun. Extreme heat does not kill it. Here is an article written by David on How To Plant Okra if you have never done it before.

Planting Okra - May 23-May 29, 2022

Behold the Clemson Spineless Okra, our most popular okra seed. This thing loves the heat. You just can't kill it!

Monday, May 23, 2022 - Planting Okra

Red Burgundy Okra

Good morning and welcome to the farm. This week we are discussing okra. If you are in Texas and you have failed at planting everything else, planting okra is a winner! It loves the heat and the horrible sun does not wither it. Planting okra will make you feel like you are a winning farmer because you just can't kill the stuff!

I have been busy all morning long checking orders, giving discounts, and changing addresses for customers who have emailed us.

A neighbor came by with her resume to ask for a job. We just laid some people off so I don't think we will be hiring again until the fall when business picks back up. We will see how it goes.

The kitchen is smelling so good right now as different fresh vegetables are being cut up to be canned and/or pickled over there.

I just sold my first papaya tree of the season. They are so cute. Right now, they are $6 a piece because they are so small.

Our cute papaya trees outside of the farm store.

One papaya tree by itself on the farm store railing.

We have this giant citronella plant for just $25. We root them ourselves and this one grew quite large over the winter. We have smaller ones as well.

This big citronella can be yours for $25 to help keep mosquitoes away from your deck. First come, first served so hurry!

I just added our dehydrated white icicle radishes and our pickled white icicle radishes to our farm store for your enjoyment. Be warned that the white icicle radish is hot! David is over in the kitchen making actual pickles and cayenne pepper sauce today. Shay prepped everything earlier. The kitchen smells so good.

Nacho is here putting down more grass squares from across the street. So far six pallets and we still have not covered our small fenced in backyard. Now it is finally raining and we need that rain bad. We are in a drought plus our gardens and my grass all really need God's good rain. You can water all you want, but when God waters the earth, the plants really look green and grow so much better!

Tuesday, May 24, 2022 - Planting Okra

Good morning and happy Election Day! We tried to go vote where the paper said to go and guess what? The Rossville Community Center did not have voting as someone rented it out for a barbecue. So we drove to Poteet and found out that we had to go to the VFW to vote. Easy in and out.

This afternoon, we are headed to San Antonio for doctor visits and a trip to Sam's. Yes, we will soon be stocked up on drinks in the fridge again. Right now we have water and Sprite.

We made it to the dentist and David was inside for a whole hour. I was not allowed inside. I sat in the truck and I visited Walgreens across the street to use the bathroom since my own dentist would not allow me inside today. I picked up a few things and paid for them and put the bag in the back seat. David came out to the truck and first thing he did was go for the bag. I said I went to Walgreens. I picked up some small pool toys for the grandchildren and a few cosmetics in the big city.

David got his crown installed and from there, we went to Sam's. We got a ton of drinks for the farm store fridge as well as a few snacks. We drove home, getting stuck on 410 for a while. Then the traffic thinned and we were able to get out of dodge and back to the farm.

I went out to put my chickens away around 8pm and found another dead one. It wasn't even very hot today with a high of 86°. I was so sad.

Late in the evening, the wind was blowing hard and we could see and hear the plastic come off of the top of the greenhouse where it was not put on correctly. David was not happy.

Planting Okra

This is Cowhorn Okra, the long variety.

It is always fun when planting okra to plant different varieties. We try to include different colors and sizes. The Cowhorn is a long variety that is way longer than the short, tender varieties.

Wednesday, May 25, 2022 - Planting Okra

Caleb last year at Salt Grass. Now we can't close down for 4 hours so we have potlucks. You can see part of Matt, our son next to Caleb.

Good Wednesday morning. Today we are having a birthday potluck to celebrate one of our managers, Caleb. Happy birthday, Caleb!

David has left the farm for a breakfast meeting so it is me and the animals. I am hoping Matt gets here soon to unlock the place for everyone. I am not dressed to go outside yet.

David tells me it poured in the night. Each time I woke up, it was not raining. It got down to 66° which is pretty cold compared to the temperatures we were having.

Happy Birthday, Caleb!

Caleb is by the food while we sing to him. Angelica is to the left. His brother Brendon is to the right.

Today, we celebrated Caleb's birthday which was actually a few weeks ago. We had a birthday potluck with Southern cooking and it was so good. Right before the food was ready, a group of three customers came in shopping from out of town. David came to get us and they were still shopping so he invited our store guests to the potluck. They came and had a great time.

We had fried chicken gizzards, meatloaf, fried chicken, mashed potatoes, jalapeno poppers wrapped in bacon, asparagus wrapped in bacon, biscuits, gravy, a big pot of greens with bacon, peach cobbler which was out of this world crazy delicious, and two kinds of birthday cakes with ice cream. I am still stuffed because it was so good.

After lunch, we had another customer and then that was it. Right now, I am filling the pond. It is 4:30pm and 87°. I put more algae killer in the pond early this morning. So far, the algae does not seem to be dying.

I think maybe people don't realize that we have more than seeds. If you need a great gift, we have pecan coffees, pecan treats, fresh eggs, home canned goods from our produce, and seeds. Come by our farm store.

Planting Okra

This is a packet of our most popular okra seed, Clemson Spineless. When planting okra, you will want to include this tender variety.

When we are planting okra, we plant several varieties and we always include Clemson Spineless Perfection, everyone's favorite! Last year, we carried a purple okra. This year, we could not find one. We have yellow, orange, and red in addition to the green. Fun!

Nacho and Aaron are out building new raised beds right now for planting okra and other things.

A lot of our other plants are looking so good right now after so much good rain. As I mentioned earlier, the wind took off the greenhouse plastic roof. Nacho is going to reinforce our PVC greenhouse next week and put new plastic on it then.

Thursday, May 26, 2022 - Planting Okra

Today was a busy day! I went over early and checked a bunch of seed orders. Then I tackled my kitchen. It took a while to completely unload the island which had become the catch all for everything. It looks pretty good now with just some fruit, candles, and salt and pepper shakers. I put furniture slides on the bottom of my chairs. I ordered those in January of 2020 and just got around to it.

I wiped cabinets, found new homes for everything on the countertops, and climbed up to inspect my newly dusted refrigerator, only to find what I suspected all along--a thick layer of dust. The last housekeeper we had in here two weeks ago told me he dusted it. Ha ha ha.

I vacuumed and dusted in the kitchen. The only things I still need to do are mop and clean out the cabinets where we keep the plastic bowls. Nothing has lids anymore!

Shay called me back to check more orders which I did. Then I fed the dogs and Kitty and started getting ready for the Atascosa Small Business meeting which we hosted this evening.

David did not expect many people so he did not prepare for overflow in the employee breakroom. The members started arriving at 5pm and quickly filled up the commercial kitchen with the door to the breakroom blocked.

Meanwhile, the internet went down and I could not open the cash register so I was trying to fix that. When I went over at 5:30pm for the meeting to start, they had already started and I could not get in. More people were coming in the parking lot so we had to do something. We finally moved one table out of the way so I could get into the break room and then the others came in. But I did not get any food until after it was over. I was beyond starving.

Matthew had to call Hughes and get the cash register back online while the meeting was going on. After the meeting, while they were giving away door prizes, they called me for a photo with Patrice, our group leader since we hosted. Also, it was Patrice's last meeting as she is moving to Alabama.

Patrice created this group and she is now moving to Alabama. However, she will take our seeds to sell on her new sunflower farm.

Below are some photos of the meeting as we all squeezed in.

The meeting started in our commercial kitchen.

Closeup of the food that I could not get to...I was starving but could not get in there. We had a lot of new people show up and it was great.

Closeup of the food. I was starving but could not get in there. We had a lot of new people show up and it was great.

Then we all went out on the Farm Store steps and this awesome commercial drone took photos of us and the farm. See the photos below. They were taken by Robert Cline of AgriLife Drone Services. The first ones are photos taken with the drone of the Atascosa Small Business Group. The next row are some that I took of the drone while it photographed us. Then Robert sent the drone high in the sky and he took some photos of the farm.

David is down in front and I am in the last row by my son, Matt. We are on the steps of our farm store. Yes, this shot was taken by the drone.

See the difference in drone height? The thing was really cool to watch.

The drone is photographing us as it flies above our Fulfillment building.

The drone is now higher and we are smaller.

A drone shot taken from pretty far up. It is so cool to see how tiny our farm and all of the buildings really are. You can see everything around. There is no privacy anymore.

Even higher up. Funny how we put such value on the things of earth but this gives it all a new perspective...just tiny tiny things.

Robert as he operated this awesome commercial drone on our front steps. If you have a farm, his services can help you. Check out the website.

Here are our two Emerald okra packets. This one is Emerald Okra. It is green in color like most with 3 to 4 inch fruits.

This is our Emerald Green Velvet, produced back in 1950 by Campbell's Soup. It is a Southern garden staple so get you some to grow in your garden!

Friday, May 27, 2022 - Planting Okra

Good hot morning. It should hit 100° today and be miserable like it was last night. Even at 9pm when we were saying goodbye to everyone, the air was thick with humidity and I was sopping wet, so nasty. It is barely 8am and the air is thick with humidity again today. I hate it.

I will be mostly cleaning the house for company that arrives tomorrow. I really thought I would get a lot more done yesterday than I did but I am an old woman now and I don't move as quickly as I used to. Also, a whole lot of detailing had to be done yesterday.

Matt is here doing various things out back. I need to get decently dressed and put money in the register and check some orders. Matt just found another garden snake in one of the hoop houses.

David went to a Memorial service for a man who committed suicide two weeks ago. He left behind a young family. So many questions. So sad.

David is back. While he was gone, I cleaned the living room and finished up the kitchen. I need to go fold five loads of laundry and clean bathrooms. But who wants to do that?

Planting Okra

This is our Jing Orange Okra seed packet. Planting okra can be fun when you plant different colors. Don't be afraid of trying new colors of your favorite vegetables.

This is called Hill Country Red Okra but it is yellow with tinges of green and red. Very pretty. Planting okra and all things should be fun!

If it is miserably hot and sunny where you are but you still want a summer garden, your best bet for success is planting okra and planting zinnias. Both love the heat and you can't kill them unless frost is involved.

So I have been getting the house ready for David's son and family to come visit for the weekend and now I have just been told they are not coming. They are sending the kids for the week only. We will meet them at a halfway point. We had a hotel room ready for them and we were going to celebrate their birthdays which are both in June but now they are not coming...

Saturday, May 28, 2022 - Planting Okra

Holley in the truck on the way back to the farm.

Max reading on our couch.

This morning, five came to work. Matt came to run things. David and I left at 10am to drive up to Fredericksburg to pick up the grandchildren. We got there at noon as we had a lunch reservation. We never could find parking so we had to drive away from the touristy part of town and found a nice Mexican place to eat. Soon Jeremy and his family made it there.

After a good lunch, we headed back to the farm. On the way, we stopped at Walmart and bought a lot of groceries, mostly chosen by the kids for the week. We got home and the kids sort of got settled all over the house...

I fed all of the animals. Matt came over with pizza from Antonio's I think. It was good but, of course, the sauce gave me bad heartburn. The Svengoolie movie was The House On Haunted Hill, which was too scary for little kids so we opted for Second Hand Lions, which the kids had never seen. They loved it. It is one of my favorite movies. Then they showered and went to bed.

This is our Dwarf Long Green Pod Okra seed pack. It grows okra that is 7 to 8 inches long. How is that dwarf?

Sunday, May 29, 2022 - Planting Okra

Max and Grandpa in the pool this afternoon.

Holley in the pool this afternoon. I put plenty of sunscreen on them.

Today has been a very busy day here on the farm. The grandchildren were up early, before I had a chance to feed all of the animals. They wanted breakfast first.

I got everyone fed and then we had to get ready for church. We took them to the church and they had a good time in children's church. Then we hit Walmart again as we forgot some stuff yesterday.

We came home and had some rotisserie chicken and macaroni and cheese. Then we went in the pool. Grandpa was in there, trying to teach Holley how to swim. Max can stay afloat but Holley cannot. Soon Holley started screaming. A wasp stung her. I put a little Cortisone 10 on her sting and soon she was right back in the water having fun. Several other wasps were around. We kept them at bay.

We went inside and the two kids were putting lots of puzzles together while I gathered laundry and fed animals. They wanted leftover pizza for dinner. Now Max is still working on puzzles and Holley is fast asleep on the couch. It is only 7:30pm which means she will probably be up extra early tomorrow morning.

Tomorrow is a holiday, but this year, it is a work day for us. Some are coming in. Matt will be here to run things in Production since our Production manager is sick. I will be spending most of my time here with the kids, although there are a few things I need to make sure get done.

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