Peacock butterfly (Anglais io), caterpillar
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Trying to grow okra this year is only part of the problem…now I need to figure out a recipe!
I gave the first part of the crop to family in our church who have roots in Georgia…they like it fried in cornmeal or breaded
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Okra is the only thing in my garden right now. Mine is 7 or so feet tall. as to recipes, We eat it various ways, The more mature pods are cut and fried, or cooked with tomatoes onion and peppers as a side dish, or can add shrimp sausage and such and serve over rice as gumbo, The small pods (2-3inch or so). We boil until tender, drain and butter and season and eat that way. definately an aquired taste. You can also season with Cajun seasonings, salt, brush with olive oil and grill the small tender pods. The larger pods are also good cut and put in soups. You do have to harvest young as the older pods get fibrous and inedible.
It has pretty hibiscus like flowers, and is also in the same family as cotton.
Looks like a vine borer got your zucchini in the background. Which reminds me, we also like okra summer squash, onions and a little potato chopped together and sautéd until tender as well.
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Thank you! that’s very helpful–and sounds good. My okra are pretty short–7 feet is great!
yes, I think you’re right about the vine borer! I’ll have to look up about how to prevent them.
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The only thing I’ve done with okra is make gumbo but that gumbo was incredible.
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Randy! What a treasure!!!
Okra is my favorite vegetable hands down, and it costs a fortune.
Roast it, or grill it. There is no comparison.
Wash, split lengthwise, coat with a thin layer of oil, bit of kosher salt, spread on a cookie sheet (oven) or pizza screen (grill) until it begins to brown. You can let it brown a bit more, if you like. Just don’t want to scorch it.
There is also a fantastic Indian recipe for okra:
Make sure you get the okra browned a bit or a lot, before you add everything else in, though.
Black-eyed peas, cooked with ham, onion, green pepper, garlic, and then add sliced okra at the end.
Gumbo!
Of course, fried okra is fantastic, but there are lots of other delicious ways to eat it.
ENJOY!
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As far as I know you can’t eat them but I saw some very nice hydrangeas yesterday. One had outer petals or sepals that were a very nice blue complimented by some interesting (I assume) true flowers in the center.
A few others in great condition also looked wonderful.
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They’re incredible!
And so are your photos.
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I can certainly see the attraction now even if I can’t readily provide what they need.
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Could someone help me identify these mushrooms please? 
My identification app says the damaged one is Xerocomus (spec.). The undamaged one is identified as Stropharia rugosoannulata.
Perhaps it is the latter, but the damage caused a wrong identification?
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Fantastic detail, particularly inside its mouth. And of its scales. Super. Thanks for sharing.
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I’d not heard of this butterfly. I looked it up. Amazing!
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Does anyone know what lead to Ian ( I actually am forgetting his name a bit but the other who liked spiders ) left?
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@LM77 I’m not sure if he’s around lately. We can learn a lot from him, if he comes back. Thanks.
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Yeah. He’s on my Inaturalist and so I see he’s always out hiking and finding stuff. Almost as much as me. Or maybe more.
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I think life just got busy and time was at a premium.
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It happens. Klax also bounced a while back. Or was kicked. Never was sure. Always keep waiting to see if he pops back in. Was very influential on the last few years of my faith. Mostly just helping with moving towards a more metaphorical reading of the Bible.
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Klax was banned from public participation at BioLogos in June 2023. We are still in touch at Ship Of Fools, where he is Martin54.
Thanks. I’ll have to look into whatever that is.
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