OKRA! Tips for a Slime-less Experience
The okra harvest has begun. We probably could have started picking it a week or two ago but we just didn’t have time with all those tomatoes! Now it is tall enough that we don’t have to bend over to pick it, which is a welcome change from most all the other harvesting we do. Hummingbirds often visit while picking okra, so that is a nice little treat as well. Helps make up for the fact that okra leaves and pods are it itchiest stuff on the planet. Okra season is eagerly awaited by many. In my opinion, okra is one of those vegetables that just isn’t worth eating fresh unless you get it straight from the farm.
Some people get turned off from okra after a bad slime experience. There are a couple secrets to slime-free okra. Never boil okra in water. That is an invitation for slimy okra. You can cook with dry heat, on the grill for example, or roasted in the oven, or pan fried. The other secret to slime-less okra is to cook it with an acid. I love to cook okra with tomatoes. It is super yummy over rice, grits, or corn bread. Simmering the okra in the tomatoes will break down the goo. Whatever you do, don’t boil it or steam it. Unless that’s how you like it, and I know some people do like boiled okra. How to cut okra blog post from the past is helpful too.
The Weather
Every week I sit down to write this newsletter and fight the urge to talk about the weather. Every week. It is impossible to overstate the impact of the weather on farmers. It is always first and foremost in my mind. But me harping on all the rain we’ve had doesn’t make for particularly interesting reading, I know, so I am going to try to keep it to a minimum.
Make Hay While The Sun Shines
If you didn’t grow up in the country, you might not realize that all this rain means farmers haven’t been able to make hay. “What are you talking about,” you might be thinking, “the grass is growing like crazy.” And it isn’t lack of growth that’s the problem. First, it has to be dry enough to cut the hay. Then the hay has to lay on the ground and dry, get raked into rows, then baled. All that means at least five or six dry days in a row. How long has it been since we’ve had five dry days in a row? We had a hard time finding hay for the goats last winter for the same reason.
No Go on the Cantaloupe
We didn’t even have a chance to dry out from hurricane Barry before more rain Sunday and Monday. I harvested some cantaloupe. I probably chucked two rotten ones for every one that I picked. At the farmers market on Saturday, I saw some melons from a farm I know and respect and theirs were just as split as ours, so at least it feels like we are in good company. I’d rather be in good company with bad melons than bad company with good melons. So that’s …. something.
After talking it over with Randy we decided not to put the cantaloupe in the shares. Even the “good” ones have split rinds, which means they will not keep. Even though the melons look okay now, we can’t be sure they’d still be in good shape by the time they got to you, our CSA members. We figure that no melon is better than a rotten melon, especially if that melon is leaking all over your other vegetables. There is a second planting of melons that should be ready in a few weeks. Fingers crosses we will have better luck with those.
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