Jianhua & Family SAFE!

the other day, i was watching CNN news, heard people are drowing in some parts of China, cause the dam is receding again! i wrote Jianhua to find out if he and family are anywhere near the disaster area. he wrote back, told me the flooded area [Changjiang Valley]is south of where he lives [Huanghe valley].

i thought to pass it along, just in case some of u heard the same new i heard.

Glad to know they are all ok. Thanks for posted here.

Yes,in the south,along the Changjiang River Valley,there meets this year's second flood.i know of this from our CCTV.for detailed info,i don't know either.(these days i don't know i am busy for what!i hardly watched TV )see,this world is full of natural and man-made disasters.what can we do then before the disasters?pray to God to gain forgiveness and compassion.
By the way,my okras grow very well.every day i will pick some fresh and tender pods for dishes.and i have collected plenty of the seeds for sale(this veggie we do not have in our country,as i know,at least in my region).this is a new hope.):
At last,i thank you for your concern!

Glad you and your family are safe.

Yes,we are in the arms of GOD!
Now, just found two okra recipes in DG's cookbook,
trying to make dishes with the tender pods.i need to weigh some up.):

How did the okra turn out for you? :) Sounds delicious.

Scientific research shows almost half of the fresh sticky pods is soluble fiber.this helps to reduce heart disease.the other half is insoluable fiber.this helps to keep the intestinal tract healthy.i suffered from constipation from time to time.but now the tract is smooth,and i have gotten a good appetite since i took okra as my daily dish.
Okra is very fruitful -- one leaf with one pod,continues bearing from late spring untill frostfall.4--5 plants
will meet most families' everyday veggie supply.you may have a go next year if interested.this okra,which was brought to the new continent from Africa by slaves at the time of slave trade,now has settled in my garden and serves us.):

interesting information Jianhua :)! thanks for passing that along. i love eating okra! they are prolific growers and the flowers resembles hibiscus blooms. don't u think so?

http://davesgarden.com/s/335015.html

Here's some of my okra harvest...love the stuff! This is an heirloom from Alabama called Dad Speegle's Special.Let me know if you'd like some seeds.

Yes I do!

RR..got you on the list....anybody else??

i'd appreciate some Melody :)! i love okra dipped in eggwash, then covered with cornmeal and fried. TIA.

You're on the list too MaVie!

Hey Mel, please save some for me also. I am an okra lover and so are all the members of my family. We can't grow enough okra for everyone. I dole it out like gold to everyone. LOL
Love ya,

Melody,thank you!
I had a click on the hyperlink.from your thread i learned more about the okra.i grow two hybrids.one is Clemson Spineless(AAS winner),whose pods are some like
Dad Speegle's Special.and the other one is Emerald,whose pods look like your ladies' fingers.
Me,after RR and MVR and ELE for DSS seeds.
One question:when to prickle okra.


This message was edited Thursday, Aug 29th 1:13 AM

Jianhua, do not understand prickle okra. but if u are asking when to pick okra. i normally pick them when young and firm. one role of thumb for me is what my grandma taught me. bend the end of the okra, the end of the fruit, if snaps it is suitable to pick. if brittle it means the seeds are matured, not suitable to eat and very leathery. HTH!

i'd appreciate to know how others determine when to pick okra fruit.

Maybe he was asking how to pickle okra.

Yes,pickled okra is very tasty.Small pods about 3" are best.You can use about any recipe that you use for cucumbers,but I prefer the okra pickles made sour,like dill pickles.And a pod of hot pepper in the jar too.

MaVie,you'd absolutely love pickled okra.We have it offered on salad bars here and you can buy it in grocery stores.Try looking in the pickle section of a larger supermarket.It would be near the olives and cucumber pickles most likely.

I'll have plenty of seeds for everyone.I'm like Elena...we love okra in our family,so I plant lots of it.

i have eaten okra all my life. we stir fry or stew them with other vegetables.

yes Mel, i have tried pickled okra in bars whenever i visit my son before, we have drinks and they do serve pickled green beans and okra.

i 1st had a taste of pickled okra when a friend's mother in Oklahoma share a few bottles with me. it was there too my friend taught me how to make fried okra popcorns. can never have enough LOL!!!

i have always tried planting okra seeds sold in stores, so far have not been lucky enough to find the 'right' variety.

thanks for sharing Mel :)!! thanks Elena :)!

Yes,i referred to how to pickle okra pods.
Here in my region,people pickle hot peppers after the first light frost falls in late autumn.
These few days i am busy writing an article for a chinese agriculture magazine to introduce the veggie okra.i am sure
the posts here are very helpful to me.
Thank U!

Don't let the frost fall on okra that you want to pickle.Harvest it just like you would for fresh eating and proceed with your favorite pickle recipe.

http://davesgarden.com/s/335446.html

Here's another hyperlink where we were discussing okra.You will be interested to know that the okra has traveled back around the world to you.

I do know that the Japanese enjoy it and use it in their cooking,so it translates well to Asian styles of food preparing.

Thanks,Melody.
Just heading for this hyperlink.

From an encyclopedia,i learned that okra seeds,after being baked and ground into podwer,can be take the place of coffee.i don't know if it is true or not.i will have a try.

Jianhua, don't let them fool you! No self-respecting coffee lover would accept okra seed as a substitute. The same is true for chicory, by the way. During really hard times, people have used them as a substitute, but only because they couldn't get the good stuff. I admit, one can develop a taste for new things. My mother used Postum, a beverage made from cereals, after she formed the notion that her religion banned caffeine. (It never interfered with her soda pops, oddly enough.) Eventually, she became terribly critical about anyone who drank coffee, and convinced herself Postum was superior. I like the taste of Postum if I add sugar and cream, but would never mistake it for coffee. Parched okra seed makes a fun snack, and coffee is a nice drink to accompany it. Good, rich, dark black coffee.

Mel, if you would be so kind as to stick a few okra seeds in with my care package, I'd be so happy! I've not done real well with them in the past, but I'm learning more and more every day.

I would be surprised if you didn't have problems with them! They need hot weather to get going good. Like peppers, they seem to just sit there for ages, then suddenly put on a huge crop.

After completing the process of baking,grinding,adding sugar,i finally succeeded in making the okran coffee.
comments:the color and flavor is much like that of real coffee.it contains no stimulant.a good drink for kids.
a bad stuff for coffee lover.anyway,i would make more.):

Wow! I am impressed, and totally surprised. Did you just roast it in a home oven, and did you taste it without sugar? I think this deserves a little more of my attention than it has received at the campfire. With a 5-almost 6- year old granddarling who was born with a taste for java, strong and black, it would be interesting to experiment, but her mother and I would have to drink it and at least appear to like it as much as espresso. Stand by, world; tell me more, Jianhua!

Im glad you are safe. I just learned more about OKRA than I ever knew! And I was gumming it as a baby :)

Shelli aka michele5000,thanks for your care.i am safe and sound.
The deeper we cultivate,the more we gain.these days i was
striken in okra study and research.many gardening friends
have given me much useful information.
Aimee,you are right,okra drink cannot be a substitue for coffee or chinese tea,because it does not contain the stimulant caffeine.but being viewed from another angle,if it
is rich in nutrition ,it can be regarded as a fairly good drink,just like soy bean milk.
In China's southern provinces there grows a kind of wild vine,called Gynostemma pentaphyllum,whose foliage is made into tea.many people love to drink it though its flavor is bitter.WHY?because it has very effective results in curing
heart-attack,diabetes,bronchitis,gastric uleer,and it can prevent the cell increasing of almost all kinds of cancers(abstracted from 'Planting Skills of Commonly-Used Chinese Medicinal Hebials'(Chinese Version) ).