***OKIES in the BYC III ***

[jcatblum]

Quote:
Okra is $4 lb @ the farmers market in okc. Here close by it sales for $2lb. I asked the guy about the time it took him to pick it. He had a gallon bucket said took about an hour & half to pick. Figure that is less than $10 an hour he spent picking it & that is only if he managed to sell it all. plus he prepped the ground, paid for the seed & cared for it for 2 months. Okra isn't worth growing for resale! Not for the labor involved.

 

[NanaKat]

Quote:
Okra is $4 lb @ the farmers market in okc. Here close by it sales for $2lb. I asked the guy about the time it took him to pick it. He had a gallon bucket said took about an hour & half to pick. Figure that is less than $10 an hour he spent picking it & that is only if he managed to sell it all. plus he prepped the ground, paid for the seed & cared for it for 2 months. Okra isn't worth growing for resale! Not for the labor involved.

1.5 hours per gallon picked....how old was he?

 

[sjarvis00]

Quote:
Okra is $4 lb @ the farmers market in okc. Here close by it sales for $2lb. I asked the guy about the time it took him to pick it. He had a gallon bucket said took about an hour & half to pick. Figure that is less than $10 an hour he spent picking it & that is only if he managed to sell it all. plus he prepped the ground, paid for the seed & cared for it for 2 months. Okra isn't worth growing for resale! Not for the labor involved.

1.5 hours per gallon picked....how old was he?

I don't recall it taking anywhere near that long but I guess anything could be possible. Okra is very heat and dry tolerant and very low maintenance for a high yield plant. That just doesn't seem right.

 

[Kassaundra]

Quote:
My Okra plants are amazingly beautiful, and they are just the clemson spineless, not the fancy orange or red ones. Tall, lush, thick, green etc............... but not an okra in sight!!!!! I figure there is a little to much nitrogen for them.

I bought the egyptian walking onions online, they will self perpetuate so once I get them established they will keep me in onions for the rest of my life!!!!! The onion bulbs will be smaller, but just put 2 in a recipe, after all the best things come in small packages don't they!!!!

I have tried beans several times this year w/o success, I am going to try one more time this fall I have yellow bean seeds left.

I plan on hitting the ground running this spring too. Can't wait to see how successful the chicken garden will be and the changes I have planned for from this seasons problems.

I have identified several issues this year and researched some potential problem solvers so we'll see.

 

[sjarvis00]

Well I'm out of here for the evening. Spent the day cleaning up birds and pens and shuffling things around a bit. I need a shower then a chance to relax and watch the news. See all of you tomorrow.

 

[jcatblum]

Quote:
1.5 hours per gallon picked....how old was he?

I don't recall it taking anywhere near that long but I guess anything could be possible. Okra is very heat and dry tolerant and very low maintenance for a high yield plant. That just doesn't seem right.

It was an older man. I do agree it is low maintenance high yield but picking is where the time comes in. Kinda like beans, easy to grow but too much time to pick for market. Look around the farmers market. Even @ big markets I see maybe 1 in 10 or 15 vendors selling okra. If it was that easy everyone would be selling it!

 

[upcdayz]

Quote:
My Okra plants are amazingly beautiful, and they are just the clemson spineless, not the fancy orange or red ones. Tall, lush, thick, green etc............... but not an okra in sight!!!!! I figure there is a little to much nitrogen for them.

I bought the egyptian walking onions online, they will self perpetuate so once I get them established they will keep me in onions for the rest of my life!!!!! The onion bulbs will be smaller, but just put 2 in a recipe, after all the best things come in small packages don't they!!!!

I have tried beans several times this year w/o success, I am going to try one more time this fall I have yellow bean seeds left.

I plan on hitting the ground running this spring too. Can't wait to see how successful the chicken garden will be and the changes I have planned for from this seasons problems.

I have identified several issues this year and researched some potential problem solvers so we'll see.

I've never tried growing the yellow beans, just the green bush type. Beans don't like hot weather or frost and won't produce if either occurs. Another thing is that it takes a lot of plants to get enough to do much with. They'll put on a lot of pods during their season then drop to nothing once they're finished. Since I live by myself it doesn't take a whole lot to give me what I need, but as soon as my kids and grandkids taste them they want some too, so I try to plant enough to freeze. I gave away quite a few last year that way, and kept some for myself too. Green beans with bacon grease, a smidge of garlic and some chopped onion is good side veggie for most any meal!

 

[Kassaundra]

My goal for most every veggie I grow (except tomatoes) is all I want to eat while in season and enough to freeze 60-80 qrt bags for the rest of the year. That is enough for 2 qrt bags per week per non growing times. Tomatoes I need significantly more of. I eat a lot of veggies. Haven't met this goal yet at least on every veggie, but up till now haven't really been serious about gardening. I have putzed w/ gardening but been tied up w/ career changes and school and what not. This year I made a goal to start a plan to grow as much of my fruit and veggies as possible in my yard, I know it will take several years for all the things I want to do, but I have started w/ what I can and will expand as I can and keep plugging away.

 

[NanaKat]

Quote:
Nanakat,
I have gone through just about everything out here as of this morning and re-arranged the breeder pens based on what I have and need,
I only have a few LF around and will be cutting the LF Cochins to a breeder trio for the fall / winter breeding season. So I have three hens I am waiting on Beth to confirm on first. They are 1 Black, 1 very nice slightly darker blue, and 1 nice lighter blue all 18 months or younger. I will likely have a few more Columbian Wyandottes before long just waiting to see what is what as I have some crossing over into the 10-12 week age and some younger ones. I am trying for 10 pullets and 1 back-up cockrell to raise out all others will leave at some point.

So at present the list is:
3 LF Blue, and Black Cochin (I think Beth is taking)
1 Trio Bantam Blue Wyandottes (I am pretty sure Amy is getting for her grand daughter)
1 Young Pair Golden Sebright,
1 young Pair Columbian OE bantams
2 Birchen OE bantam hens nice birds
1 full breeder pen of White OE bantams can be split into quads. (2 cock birds 7 or 8 hens)
1 Full Breeder Pen of BB Red OE bantams that are just outstanding. (1 cock bird 5 hens)

this is in an effort to make room for something I really want alot more than most everything else I have, you will be more than welcome to visit next spring to see what it is, but they will not be for sale for at least another 1 1/2 years.

The Columbian Wyandotte trio I purchased from you a few months back are "drop dead gorgeous" right now. If you are going to have a few extra CW pullets when you've finished the selection process, let me know. I think mine are in that 10 - 12 week old stage now too.

If Beth takes the three Cochins, she going to be a very happy lady.

The two blue Cochin pullets we have are growing out very nicely in the hot tub room and the little black roo is feathered out and beginning to really put on some weight. All are so sweet tempered.

 

[upcdayz]

Quote:
I don't recall it taking anywhere near that long but I guess anything could be possible. Okra is very heat and dry tolerant and very low maintenance for a high yield plant. That just doesn't seem right.

It was an older man. I do agree it is low maintenance high yield but picking is where the time comes in. Kinda like beans, easy to grow but too much time to pick for market. Look around the farmers market. Even @ big markets I see maybe 1 in 10 or 15 vendors selling okra. If it was that easy everyone would be selling it!

Agreed, however I think the problem - hence higher prices - is because there's just not a high demand for okra. It seems to be something that you love to eat or hate it. Many folks are on the "hate it" side. Personally, I love okra, but love it or not, I'm not willing to pay a premium price for it.