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teachingmom
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| Posted: July 31 2008 at 12:15am | IP Logged
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As I mentioned in another thread, this is the first summer we've tried gardening. We got a few handfuls of strawberries, and I hope to have lots more next year. Our small raised bed of vegetables is growing well and we've harvested a few things, with much more to come.
It was very exciting a few weeks back when I picked our first large red tomato and huge green cucumber. That night at dinner, I cut both of them up and the entire family shared them. The cucumber seemed unusual. I remember talking to Mary Chris the next day and asking her if she knew anything about garden grown cucumbers. I told her how it was rather dry, with hardly any seeds. It had more of the consistency of a zucchini than a cucumber. But I distincly remembered placing the cucumber plants in the middle of the bed, so I was convinced it was a cucumber.
Fast forward to the other day when our second cucumber of the summer was sitting on my counter. My neighbor stops by and comments on our success in growing such a great zucchini. I told her that, no, it was a cucumber. But then I told her how the last one tasted strange for a cucumber and had the consistency of a zucchini. The more we talked the more I wondered . . . I ended up googling zucchini and cucumber plants to compare the look of the leaves . . . and you guessed it. It was a zucchini we had eaten! Boy, did I feel like a complete idiot! 
The upside is that we have our first two loaves of zucchini bread baked by my oldest dd today. And they are delicious!
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~Irene (Mom to 6 girls, ages 7-19)
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MaryM
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| Posted: July 31 2008 at 12:37am | IP Logged
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 - that's a great story, Irene. Enjoy your zucchini. So did you end up planting any cucumbers, or no?
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Mary M. in Denver
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JennGM
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Too funny, Irene!!!
Well, I grew okra this year as an experiment. I've never had it fresh. Last night I made a delicious okra and fresh tomatoes with onions and bacon. I was talking with my sister as I was cutting up the okra. "What's that noise?" "It's the okra." "Well, it doesn't usually sound like that when you're cutting it."
It did seem dry and fibrous, but I thought it would soften up on the stove. Yuck, no. I don't think any human could digest those cellulose fibers. I kept getting upset about the waste of good bacon and those fresh tomatoes!
I Googled "How to pick fresh okra" and apparently you need to pick these very young and small and tender. These were way too big. Live and learn. I need to pick the little ones promptly.
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Jennifer G. Miller
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stefoodie
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| Posted: July 31 2008 at 8:08am | IP Logged
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I love gardening stories like this.
You mentioned okra, Jenn. My mom was here recently and helped me tidy up the garden. There were two plants I didn't want her to dig up because I wasn't sure they were weeds or something I had the kids plant for me when I was sick. My mom said it kinda looks like okra (I should have googled, but didn't). So I left them alone, even though I wasn't sure if our okra seedlings came up or not (I had told the kids to just plant whatever came up and I was too sick to care where they put it).
Turns out the "okra" is an invasive weed -- velvetleaf. So here I was looking forward to having okra this summer and I have weeds instead. They're seriously taking over the flower bed. Argh. 
I've been getting really nice zucchini though. And Irene, some zucchini and cucumber dishes are actually interchangeable!! The Chinese use cucumber for stir-fries, etc. and the Japanese use zucchini for salads, so there you go...
ETA: My favorite okra dish these days, which I hated as a child: steamed (very young) okra (my dad puts them on top of the rice the last 5-10 minutes of cooking), then sprinkle on lemon juice and salt. Yum.
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stef
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lapazfarm
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LOL! I LOVE the stories! Keep 'em coming, ladies!
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TracyQ
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Fun, fun, fun!!! I'm enjoying our herbs, and anxiously awaiting our tomatoes, zucchini, and pumpkins that we planted for decorating. Our spinach didn't come out, and I do think we have cucumbers somewhere. I'll have to be careful to look carefully at what I'm cooking!
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teachingmom
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| Posted: Aug 01 2008 at 12:10am | IP Logged
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MaryM wrote:
| - that's a great story, Irene. Enjoy your zucchini. So did you end up planting any cucumbers, or no? |
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Well, I think so!
I bought three plants from the squash family. The tags that came in the plants say cucumber, zucchini, and straightneck squash. It's clear now that the plants in the middle of the bed are zucchini. But at least one of the others - the straightneck squash - should be yellow. So far, both of the other plants have knobby green squash/cucumber-like vegetables growing from them.
Does anyone know if yellow squash grows yellow from the start? Or does it start green and become yellow at some point closer to picking?
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Leonie
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stefoodie wrote:
Turns out the "okra" is an invasive weed -- velvetleaf. So here I was looking forward to having okra this summer and I have weeds instead. They're seriously taking over the flower bed. Argh. . |
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Too funny! That happened to me years ago - yes, with okra! The kids and I carefully tended what we thought was our okra plant near the clothesline - turned out it was a weed. Just like yours! The best cared for weed, ever!
Have never tried to grow okra again after that experience! 
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JennGM
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Leonie wrote:
stefoodie wrote:
Turns out the "okra" is an invasive weed -- velvetleaf. So here I was looking forward to having okra this summer and I have weeds instead. They're seriously taking over the flower bed. Argh. . |
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Too funny! That happened to me years ago - yes, with okra! The kids and I carefully tended what we thought was our okra plant near the clothesline - turned out it was a weed. Just like yours! The best cared for weed, ever!
Have never tried to grow okra again after that experience! |
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Very interesting! I clicked on the Velvet Leaf and was surprised that it had ">no lobes. I find the okra leaf (at least the variety I have reminds me of a common Fig Leaf.
I couldn't find any great pictures of okra, except a few at All About Okra. So what about these plants made you think it was okra? Just curious. I make more of those mistakes in my flower garden. I grow a lot of weeds waiting to see if something is going to flower.
leaf description[/url] Lobed
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Jennifer G. Miller
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teachingmyown
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Pretty funny, Irene!
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Michaela
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It MUST be the packaging, Irene.
I am absolutely postive I planted Lemon Cucumbers.
It's zucchini!
Not a lemon cuc in sight.
The plants that are supposed to be zucchini  are just now flowering. They are vining more like my cucumber plants.
It's a mix-up at the seed company....it has to be.
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teachingmom
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| Posted: Aug 08 2008 at 12:24pm | IP Logged
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And I think I finally figured out what I actually have out there in the garden.
It looks like the yellow squash was the mislabled one because there are none in sight. I think I have one zucchini and TWO cucumber plants. No wonder they looked so much alike!
The cucumbers are delicious too. 
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~Irene (Mom to 6 girls, ages 7-19)
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4Real Forums : Exploring God's Creation in Nature and Science
Topic: Well, I never claimed to be an expert!
