It has been a warm July day in rural eastern Lowndes County. I mowed most of the morning and was very thankful to see David and John David making an appearance. The ground was finally dry enough, we thought, to remove the large pines that had fallen in our yard on May 18. I had been mowing around them but looked forward to having the acre plus front yard back. One pine was removed from the yard. The other pine has been cut into lengths to be taken to our sawmill. Maybe soon!
I grew up in a true southern farmhouse. Robin, Renee and I shared an upstairs bedroom. We had no air conditioning. Our summer days started early. Daddy left for work at Bosch about 6:20 a.m. He had riders to pick up along the way to American Bosch. There was always something to do in the garden where Richard and Mama joined the outside crew. Garden crops were gathered and, on the table, prepared by noon for dinner. Leftovers, still in the bowls, were placed in the oven for supper, our nighttime meal. Food was back on the table by 4 p.m. when Daddy came home from work.
Afternoons were often spent preparing extra vegetables and fruits for the winter. We would sit on the front porch and shell those peas and butter beans or snap green beans, knowing every car that went down Old Yorkville Road stirring up the dust from the gravel road. We froze hundreds of quart bags of purple hull peas and Henderson white bush beans. Corn preservation was about a two-day event. The window for corn was short lived and you had to work quickly to get a hundred plus bags in the freezer or the kernels would be too hard.
Green beans were usually canned, as were tomatoes. Squash, cucumbers and okra were also harvested. We prepared pickles, relishes, jams and jellies. We always had a fall garden as well. That allowed us to enjoy fresh vegetables until the first frost or hard freeze. Life was good! My favorite meal is still butter (lima) beans, corn, fried or boiled okra, sliced tomatoes and hot corn bread!
July is a busy month in the vegetable garden. Watch your tomatoes carefully. Pick when fully colored. If the tomato fruit is left on the plant too long you will see sunscald. Try to water deeply and mulch well for fresh tomatoes for an extended period. Bell peppers and most varieties of hot pepper enjoy the summer warmth. Be sure to harvest regularly.
Does your family enjoy okra? It is a heat loving plant! Those little pods grow very rapidly. Okra pods can be picked (we have always just used a small knife to remove the pod from the stalk) about every day. Okra is rich in vitamin C and low in calories. Okra is an acquired taste. As we grew up eating it on the summer menu, we enjoy it fried or boiled. It can also be an ingredient in a summer vegetable soup mixture, made into okra pickle or gumbo. Okra is a member of the hibiscus family, and the bloom shows a strong resemblance to the hibiscus!
Okra does have large hairy leaves and tiny spines on the pods, which could cause a skin irritation. Wearing gloves and long sleeves while harvesting the okra can easily take care of the problem. There are also spineless varieties. The okra pods should be harvested when they are about two to four inches long. Cut the stem just above the cap with a knife. If the stem is too hard to cut, the pod is probably too old and should be tossed. Only one pod grows beneath each leaf, so break off each leaf after harvesting the okra pod.
The side effects of okra consumption are pain and inflammation in people with joint disorders such as arthritis. In some people it is a culprit in developing kidney stones, as okra has oxalates and calcium oxalates, often cited for causing kidney stones.
As you walk about your garden to harvest, you may note signs of heat stress. Plants may have wilting or curled leaves or blossoms may have dropped from the plant. When watering, water deeply and mulch well. Weeds love the summer heat and will compete with your crops for water and nutrients. Keep your vegetable and flower gardens weeded and use mulch to reduce new weed growth.
July provides food for your family and for pollinators and beneficial insects. Encourage the bees, butterflies and predatory insects by planting a variety of flowers and reduce the use of pesticides. Do not forget to add shallow water sources for those pollinators, also!
I just received the news that the pink eyed purple hull peas are ready. I think I shall go into hiding for a few days!
Former elementary teacher and avid gardener Olivia Sansing lives in the New Hope community and shares timely tips on behalf of the Lowndes County Master Gardeners.
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