Cynically Optimistic

This year, after moving into the new house, we decided to plant a little garden. We planted 4 tomato plants, 2 pepper plants, a squash plant, some herbs, and 300+ Okra seeds. The squash died. Only 3 of the Okra seeds germinated and grew properly, thanks to Dad's wondeful seed store. The price was right. In June, things were going pretty slowly.

We kind of neglected things during the month of July, and the weeds took over. Gardening is not my thing, really. And tomatoes aren't my thing either. Peppers are ok. Okra, though, is one of the veggies that I do really like (albeit breaded and fried). Finally, we're here in August and things look a bit better. All that empty space exists because I was expcting to have more than 3 measly Okra plants. As it stands, I have harvested 4 pods. For those that aren't up on Okra, here's a closeup. Points of interest include the flower, which only opens for one day, in the morning. It quickly falls off and then the fruit starts to grow. You can see a young one on the right. A mature fruit is on the left side, kind of behind the flower. When it gets about 5 inches long and fills out in thickness it's time to cut it off. You only get one okra pod per flower, and there's only only flower per leaf. I'm hoping I can keep them in the fridge long enough to collect about 10 or so, enough for an appetizer.

Fear not, however, that while this garden expeiment has been interesting, my true food passion is using fire to burn dead animals. I loves me some steak and potatoes.