Re: [gardeners] Saturday in the garden (written a day later)

George Shirley (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Mon, 03 Jul 2000 08:52:45 -0500 

"David G. Smith" wrote:
> 
> How's that Burmese okra?  I'd like to try that next year if you give it a
> good review.

I've used it in a gumbo and it was very good. Tried some raw and you can eat it
that way but it's not a favorite. Up to 6 inches long it is still tender but
after that it gets tough. I used the old tried and true method of checking the
tenderness of okra, if the tend snaps off clean it's still tender, if it bends
and splinters toss that pod out. The Burmese okra doesn't seem to make as much
of the mucilage as other okras do, the slimy stuff. In a gumbo it doesn't make
much difference as the okra is the thickener, gonna fry some tonight to see how
it does.

> 
> I put down about 500 square feet of 8" ceramic tile in our basement.  I'm
> very pleased with the results.  One thing I might do differently if I was to
> do it over would be to spend a little more and get a tile saw.

That's what we're planning to do, HD rents them so it's not a problem getting
one.

  I used a
> thing like a big glass cutter on a track -- you score a line across the tile
> and then break it.  (I'm sure you've seen them at the Home Depot.)
> Sometimes the break veers from the line, and it's very hard to cut a small
> piece.  I wasted a lot of tile with bad cuts, and put some pieces down that
> didn't really fit right.
> 
> Not a lot of excitement in our garden.  The tomatoes are about to bloom.
> This year I think I finally have tomato stakes that won't break, bend, or
> fall over in the wind -- pressure treated 8 foot 2x2's driven 18 inches into
> the ground.  We had a handful of green beans Saturday.  We've had all the
> rain we can use, so everything (including weeds) is growing fine.  The early
> plating of corn is starting to tassle.
> 
> We had an illegal fireworks story in the news here a few weeks back.
> Someone had several tons of fireworks in their house and in a shed on their
> property.  In a residential area!
> 
> Happy Fourth of July to everyone.
> 
> David

Our spring/summer garden has about had it. We're planting the fall stuff now,
green beans, crowder peas, more tomatoes, more peppers, more cukes, zucchini,
etc. It's all under shade at the moment trying to get it up big enough it can
take care of itself.

George