It's hotter'an Hades around here right now, and it seems the only crops doing very well are the melons and the okra. The hotter it gets. The more they like it.
We finally got what I call a rain. It's looking and smelling like Louisiana again. My mom had maybe hundreds of okra plants volunteer in her garden this year. So she just let them grow. I helped her harvest them the other day and snagged all the 3 to 1 inch pods to pickle. My girls love pickled okra, and I have never grown enough to pickle.
First I washed them really well...
...and cut the stems short.
I took out dill weed seed and garlic, both from the garden.
I put 2 cups of vinegar, two cups of water, 2 teaspoons of dill seed, and 1/3 cup of canning salt in a pot and brought to a boil. I packed the fresh okra into pint jars, added two cloves of garlic and some red pepper flakes. I filled the jars with the boiling vinegar mixture leaving a 1/2 inch headspace. Then I sealed them with a lid and band and processed in a boiling canner for 15 minutes. They turned out really yummy. I waited a few days before opening a jar. Mommy...I hope you'd like me to help you pick okra again!!!
I finally picked the large melon in my garden. Guess how much it weighed?......
39.6 pounds! You should have seen me lugging this thing back to the house. I should have just used the wagon!
2 comments:
I don't remember ever having pickled okra! that looks worth a try..and if you would have called me I would have helped you carry that melon (behind the fence so we could slice it up to make sure it was a good one:o)
I love your fried okra yummy! while look at that big melon boy! do I want some... wink wink!! love carmencita
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