Suddenly

I heard the frogs singing last night.  Weird for the end of February.  This warm weather makes me want to get out and plant, but I know winter isn't done with us yet.  Still, I did see some signs of hope.

I'll keep waiting for now, but I'm getting impatient.

Edible Landscape Clean-up: Run for the Roses

Edible Landscaping

I don’t recall when I started to search out edible landscaping as a primary source of beauty.  It might have been when I saw how pretty my purple eggplants looked, tucked between some bushes because I did not have any more room in the REAL garden.  Or maybe it was the color of Swiss Chard under my cherry trees in the summer.  Well, for whatever reason, I am an avid edible landscaper.

I have been slowly trimming my rose bushes every other day.  They are not hard to manage but you do need to cut them back if you don’t want to live in Sleeping Beauty’s rose covered castle. Or was that Snow White and Rose Red?  Anyway, I never worry about trimming the roses too much because every bit of them are used.  In the Fall I use the rose hips for syrup.  In the Winter I give the trimmed branches to our goat, Lucy.  She eats them like candy.  The roof of her mouth must be made of titanium because these branches have thorns that really hurt.  The chickens clean up anything that Lucy drops and any spider cases, etc.

So, Lucy gets a special treat and I feel like I have cleaned up without adding anything to the landfill.  It’s a win-win.

Edible landscaping benefits not only the human critters but the birds, goats, and chickens.  Try it this year!

Oh boy, it's Okra!

Oh boy, it’s Okra!

     
         Experimenting in the garden is a family pastime.  We try to plant new things each year.  This year we planted okra.  Now, I am an Ohio girl a.k.a. a NORTHERN girl who has never tasted okra.  I did not grow up eating Cajun food, or good Southern cooking, which included okra.  I have read about how to cook it and use it, but this will be the year that I try.

       However, I am writing to you today because I think that people should start to look at okra in another way.  It is beautiful!  According to the University of Illinois Extension website the plant is from the same plant family as hibiscus, hollyhock and Rose of Sharon.  Our plants grew to be approximately three-to-four feet high. The blossoms are off-white with scarlet veins.  It is a very “showy” plant with good structure and leaves. 

       Growing okra is like having my own sculpture garden.  The finial shaped pods reach toward the sun and provide a bulky contrast to the blooms.  The branches are thick and well-spaced, allowing you to see both the blooms and the vegetables.  I have always interspersed flowers and vegetables in my gardens.  We call it edible landscaping.   Rosalind Creasy coined that term and we love it!

       As sculptural as okra is, I plan to dry it for holiday arrangements.  The pods seem to be cracking open to disperse seeds so I am trying different methods.  Some pods are outside, drying in a shaded area.  Others are inside drying away from the sunlight. The pods I put in the dehydrator on a low temperature seem to be working the best.  They have not cracked and are holding their color and shape.  Once they are dried I plan on painting them for ornaments and garlands.  Maybe that will be a holiday blog?

Learn more about growing okra  at the links below and enjoy your own edible sculpture garden!

Learn more about okra:

http://urbanext.illinois.edu/veggies/okra.cfm

http://www.goerie.com/article/20130320/LIFESTYLES04/303209991/Edible-landscaping

http://southernfood.about.com/library/weekly/aa081401a.htm