Okra has become one of my favorite foods this summer. A friend of Clays had us over for dinner and prepared some grilled okra with olive oil and salt. It is best as a finger food because the skin can be tough to cut, so just pick it up by the tail end and dig in. I had never eaten okra before or had I seen it growing from a plant. So shortly after my first taste of okra my neighbor calls over the fence hoping that Clay and I might be interested in some of his okra before the deer ate it all. Since then we have fixed okra three times thanks to John (our neighbor). I look forward to trying to grow some next year!! (The picture was taken after rubbed in olive oil, but before it was cooked).
We didn't actually eat any of the carrots with our dinner but they will be in my salad for lunch tomorrow. I have grown carrots before but not purple carrots! John informed me of a little carrot history that you can read about here, that helps explain the purple part. (The tomatoes came from our garden, our constant supply just made a nice backdrop).
Here are the carrots after I washed them up. I was amazed by the color.
John probably wouldn't want me to post this picture because the watermelon was not quite ripe. I was actually able to get several sweet, juicy bites from it. The other reason I went ahead and posted this picture is because I already ate the first watermelon that he gave us that was perfectly ripe. It was just the right size to cut in half and just use the rind as a bowl.
These grapes smelled incredible. Before John and Kim moved in the house next door was vacant. Clay and I would wander over sometimes during the summer and snack on a few grapes when they were ripe. We were very happy to have such great neighbors move in, who continued to let us snack on the grapes.This last picture is not from our neighbor's garden. This weekend I visited some other neighbors on the river named Faye and Dudley Scott. Faye just happens to be my grandmother Rubel's sister. I have always admired their house and garden when I drove by. Papaw went with me to their house for a Sunday visit. I was given a brief history of the McCoy mines and the ferry located where Clay and I got married. Faye showed me her basement full of canned food. Dudley showed me two giant tanks he uses to collect rainwater and if that runs low he has a system set up to pump water from the river. Of course they wouldn't let me leave empty handed. I took home a book titled "McCoy, Virginia Remembered," (This book has pictures of Clay's grandfather that built and lived in the house we are in now!) and a couple Brandywine tomatoes. I wish I would have taken a picture of the tomatoes before I cut them, they were so pretty. They also made the best caprece salad that I have eaten all summer! (This is the salad before I added balsamic vinegar.
Finally, I had my first meeting for the Virginia Master Naturalist program last night. One of my first assignments was to look up some information on a local species. We drew animals from a basket and I got the Eastern Spotted Skunk, so I included a link. We were just given a brief overview of the program and discussed keeping a nature journal, book or electronic. I hope to keep a book but will continue to post info here of the fieldtrips we take.
