Don't waste a Southern delicacy when it's in season

Man cannot live by bread alone, he must have some peanut butter and OKRA.

Okra is a flowering plant in the Mallow Family (along with such species as cotton, cocoa, and hibiscus), valued for its edible green fruits. I have some very good friends in Texas who will totally disagree with that. Okra's scientific name is Abelmoschus esculentus; it is occasionally referred to by the synonym Hibiscus esculentus L. I wonder if my Texas friend would eat it if I called it by Abelmoschus esculentus. I would doubt it. I won't identify them by name. He and I were born and raised in Watson. Let me make that a little more clear. He is from Watson, Illinois and I am from Watson, Arkansas. He and I have a lot in common. We both have been to Watson, TX. We both are scientists working in the oil industry (for the same company from January 1968 to January 1998), we both know where West Liberty, IL is located, we both are railfans, we both have been to the Deadhorse, Alaska (North Slope of Alaska - Prudhoe Bay Oilfield). I do have one up on him, I have been to Chicken, Alaska, but he hasn't. We both have stood by the railroad tracks in Spring, TX and watched Union Pacific 3985 (an articulated 4-6-6-4 steam locomotive) steam by. But enough of the similarities, two things that we don't have in common - the love of peanut butter and okra.

Okra grows only in a frost free climates. Which means, I plant it about May 15 in the St. Louis area and it will continue to grow till the first frost (~Oct 15). In Texas, I could plant it about March 1 and it would grow till about December 1 (sometimes even latter, many years Houston area can go without frost until Jan-Feb. I have a brother in Michigan that likes okra as much as I do, but he has a very short growing season (June 15 - Sept 15) for okra. He has to start seeds indoors about a month earlier than his frost free time of planting. He still has a very difficult time getting a decent okra crop. My plants are now (Aug 25) about 5 1/2 feet tall and will likely grow another foot or two of height before frost. In Texas my plants were over 10 feet tall at the end of the season.

Here I am picking okra in my garden when we lived in Texas.

Because okra is a member of the mallow family, it's blooms look very similar to cotton and hibiscus. The blooms are white the first day and begin to turn red by evening then fall off the second day.



Okra can prepared by slicing the pods crossways, breaking an egg into it, then add corn meal, salt, pepper. Stir together well and fry in hot oil (the best way to eat it).


It is good to eat by boiling small tender pods, draining the water, then add butter. Many don't like it prepared this way as it is slimy. However, if you add a little bit of vinegar or tomato juice to the water, it will take away the sliminess. A good recipe is sliced okra and tomatoes cooked together.


Okra that has been pickled is very good (best with a dill pickling recipe).

Dilled Okra Pickles

2 pounds small, tender okra pods (whole with stems left on)

dill seed or fresh dill

celery seed or celery leaves

1 clove garlic

1 quart water

1 pint vinegar

1/2 cup salt

1) Pack scrubbed okra into sterilized pint jars.

2) Add to each jar 1/4 teaspoon dill and celery seed, clove garlic. Add a pod of hot pepper if desired.

3) Heat water, vinegar and salt to boiling. Fill jars with boiling hot brine and tighten lids. Process jars 5 minutes in boiling water bath.

4) let stand 4 to 6 weeks before using

Okra is also very good in Gumbo. But if you can't bring yourself to eat okra, then let the pods mature to the dry stage on the plant then use it this way.

Happy Trails

After we had put a contract on our "new" home in St. Peters, Missouri, we decided to explore the neighborhood. We found a very good walking trail that followed a creek that was on the west side of our subdivision, Carrington Place. We walked the north half of the trail that day, December 18, 2006. The following photos show Carrington Place Subdivision map (streets highlighted in pink and trial drawn as a red line on the west side) and St. Peters Parks Department representation of the trail (Brookmount Trail). The trail follows a creek that runs from Willott Road on the south to Mexico Road on the north. The total length of the trail is 0.93 miles. If you search for 3 Alexis Ct, St. Peters, MO in Google Maps and look to the west on the map, you can see the creek. If you switch to the Satellite View, you can see the trailhead of Brookmount Trail leading off of the west end of the court then split into the north and south parts of the trail. You can see the north half of the trail on the west side of the creek and the south half on the east side of the creek. If we walk the streets from our house on Colby Drive to the trailhead at midpoint (Alexis Court) and do a round trip of the north and south end, then back home, it is a 2.6 mile walk


The trail is well used by walkers, joggers, and bikers. It has many shady areas that make for comfortable walking, even on hot days. There are several benches placed along the trail where one can stop for a break.

The trail switches from the west side of the creek to the east side at midpoint.



One time we were walking the trail with some friends and when they saw the creek bed, they said there are geodes along that creek. On another trip, we brought home about a 5 gallon bucket full of geode rock. The grandchildren had a big rock busting party. We broke them open and sure enough there were crystal formations inside. The top area of the next photo is the area in the creek that we found geode rock. The single rock is an example of a geode rock (unopened). The next is geodes that have been opened up to show the crystal formation.


The trail winds along the western edge of our subdivision on the south end and Brookmount subdivision on the north end. The trail butts up against homes along it's way.


Squirrels, rabbits, and birds are plentiful along the trail.

At one point artists have used a property owner's fence for a palette for their art (Graffiti).

Several homeowners have used the trail right of way to grow flowers.



Here is a composite of many of the flowers found along the trail.

The Many Faces of the Gateway Arch

One of the great places to visit in the St. Louis area is the Gateway Arch, which is part of the Jefferson Expansion National Memorial (National Monument). The Arch is in downtown St. Louis on the Mississippi River riverfront. There is a very good Museum of Westward Expansion in the lower levels under the arch which preserves some of the rarest artifacts from the days of Lewis and Clark. There are great exibits portraying the history of the American West. While in the museum area, a must do thing to do is to take a tram ride to the top of the Arch.

Another place to visit while at the Jefferson Expansion National Memorial is the Old Courthouse. This is the site of 1847 Dred Scot trial. Where slave Dred Scott, with his wife Harriet, sued for, and were granted, their freedom. The Old Courthouse can be seen in the photo that shows downtown St. Louis and westward.

While at the Arch, another great side trip is to go down on the riverfront and take a trip one of the sightseeing tour boats.

From the top of the Arch, there are some great views of St. Louis landmarks.

Busch Stadium (completed in 2006) - Home of the 2006 World Series Champion St. Louis Cardinals. The Cardinals won the series in five games against the Detroit Tigers.

Edward Jones Dome - Home of the St. Louis Rams Super Bowl XXXIV Champions in 2000. St. Louis Rams 23, Tennessee Titans 16 - January 30, 2000.

The historic Eades Bridge which was completed in 1874 , is one of the great American masterpieces, and it's virtually unknown. Designed to allow trains across the Mississippi - and assure St. Louis' dominance as a trading hub - it was the first major bridge to use steel and cantilevered construction.

Downtown St. Louis skyline. On clear days you can see almost 10 miles. The photo below is westward from the Arch and the buildings in the far west are about 6.5 miles away on the westward edge of Forest Park. In the foreground of this photo is the Old Courthouse.

Here are several different views of the Arch.

From underneath:

From the park grounds:


Views of the Arch from the Tom Sawyer sightseeing tour boat.

Eades Bridge and Arch:

Tour helicopter (Tour St. Louis by Helicopter) in front of Arch:


A diorama in the Museum of Westward Expansion depicting the builders of the Arch.

Grandchilren, Alex (far left) and Jacob (far right) boarding the tram to the top of the Arch on July 20, 2009.

One Potato - Two Potato

Do you know that you can run a clock using potatoes as the battery.

You can find commercial sources for a "potato clock" online ($19.95 + shipping).

But it's more fun to build one from "Scratch".

Step 1

Assemble your supplies. You'll need two common galvanized nails; three alligator clip/wire units - that is, alligator clips connected to one another with wire; two short pieces of heavy copper wire; a simple low-voltage LED clock unit; and two potatoes. Obtain a simple LED clock unit that functions from the power of one AA battery.

Step 2

Open the battery compartment and remove the battery.

Step 3

Note that there is a positive (+) and a negative (-) terminal point where the battery was installed.

Step 4

Identify the potatoes as number one and number two.

Step 5

Insert one nail in each potato.

Step 6

Insert one short piece of heavy copper wire in each potato, placing it as far from the nail as possible.

Step 7

Use one alligator clip/wire to connect the copper wire inserted in potato one to the positive terminal in the clock unit.

Step 8

Use one alligator clip/wire to link the nail in potato two to the negative terminal in the clock unit.

Step 9

Use the final alligator clip/wire to link the nail in potato one to the copper wire in potato two.

Step 10

Set your clock.

How it Works

An electrochemical battery stores chemical energy that changes into electrical energy that runs electronic equipment. There is a chemical reaction within the potato battery that causes the electrons to move. The electromotive force within each potato is the ability it carries to move electric current. In an electrochemical cell, such as the potato battery, the copper wire makes the electrons move in the potato, causing energy to move into the clock.
The official scientific name for the chemical reaction is "redox reaction." The process starts when one side of the battery loses electrons. This happens in the the zinc nail, which forms the anode, or positive part of the circuit. The zinc in the nail reacts with phosphoric acid in the potato, releasing electrons. The zinc anode loses 2 electrons while the copper in the wire reacts with the phosphoric acid to release hydrogen ions, which gain the electrons. This is the negative half of the circuit, or the cathode, which thereby gains the electrons.

I measured the voltage of my potato battery, with a voltage meter, at about 1.1 volts. This is sufficient voltage to substitute for the AA battery (typically 1.25 volts).

You should be able to power the same clock with a couple of lemons, bananas, apples or avocados, as well as pickles and some soft drinks (mostly of the sugared variety).

This link gives a good description of "Potato Power"

When you finish with your project, do not eat the potatoes.

Squirrelly

One of the things we enjoy at our house is teasing the squirrels that feed around our deck. We have a feeder called “squirrel under glass”.



Available online ($42.99 + shipping)

However with a couple of cedar fence boards and a wide mouth jar, we built our own for under $5.00. Maybe I should go into business, not a bad idea for a cottage industry.

We enjoy seeing the squirrels try to get at peanuts in hanging containers. We have also tied peanuts in ropes hanging from the deck. It's fun to see them try to get to the nuts. Finally they learn that they can pull the ropes up and get to the nuts. Once the rope disappeared, it had been cut. We found it the next day in our front yard.

We got some ideas from several websites.

2007 Squirrel Obstacle Course (Scroll completely thru this links contents, it has several YouTube videos).

Crazy smart squirrel obstacle course.