Kakahead

It’s the “dog days” of summer; and we are enjoying very warm weather here in West Michigan.  Lots of folks are complaining about the heat of course; but that always seems funny to me.  After all, we know that winter will be here way too soon; and even though I have Norwegian blood in me this Viking would rather sweat than shiver any day.

Last year it was cool and wet… most gardens did very poorly and lots of folks lost their tomatoes to blight.  THIS YEAR… sheesh!!  My garden is starting to look like a rain forest!  The tomatoes are getting taller than me, the squash, pumpkins, watermelon and honey rock vines want to take over every square foot of land I have it would seem.  And the kale, swiss chard, okra and collards are simply huge.

Some of you may be saying, “kale, swiss chard, what and who??”  Yes that’s right… I said it, okra and collards.  You see, my lovely girlfriend and I were married when I was in the Air Force; and I was stationed in Tampa, Florida for three years.   Three years was definitely long enough for us to realize that Florida is a nice place to visit, but … um… we came back up north.  However, we very much enjoyed several new foods that quickly became part of our grocery list while we were there.

Yellow grits (white grits just don’t have the flavor in my professional opinion), hominy, black beans and rice, collards, okra, mangoes, guavas, mmmmmmmmm my mouth is watering just thinking about them.  Needless to say, when we go back to visit, we stock up on the stuff we can’t get here in Michigan.

I was truly delighted to learn that even though we have a much shorter growing season than Florida does, if we have a decent summer we can grow our own okra and collards pretty easily.   Collards have achieved their own special place at the southern dinner table; and we northerners often enjoy them when on vacation.  But some folks up this way just can’t venture into okra territory.  We love it, and I plant some every year.  In fact, I just harvested and froze some okra, and there’s lots more coming.  Just look at these lovely plants!

Just getting started!

Funny how lots of Yankees will order something like seafood gumbo at a restaurant and then become repulsed when they learn there’s okra in it.  All too many equate okra with slime; and yes, if it’s prepared poorly it can be very slimy.   Lots of recipes that include okra will surprise even the most die-hard critics.  I mean hey, don’t knock it till you try it!!

We’ve always known okra was not only good but good for you; and before writing this I went hunting for evidence on just how good it really is.  Nutritionally speaking, okra is loaded!!  Just take a look here and see for yourself:

http://www.nutrition-and-you.com/okra.html

Anyway, I guess you either like okra or you don’t…  so if you don’t, please pass it my way.  That’s more for me!

If you’re crazy enough to actually grow okra, the Produce Lady has some nice tips for you.