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blueandyellowmakes

Author • Speaker • Homesteader
Executive director of the utopianseedproject
The Whole Okra, 2020 James Beard Awardee

The Leicester Library Giving Garden now has a high

The Leicester Library Giving Garden now has a high tension 5ft fence and beautiful regionally cut cedar posts! Amazing effort from the local community to get this up. Next up is gates and then a garden!!

#communitysupported #communitygarden #givinggarden

@leicesterlibrary

This is duck and I.

This is duck and I.

You can't always see them, but mothers have wings

You can't always see them, but mothers have wings and they can fly. They have other super powers too, how else could they do all that they do? It's kind of obvious when you think about it. Here's a picture of our supermom, powers on full display.

#mothersday

Farm life and frog tent naps. #farming #daddydayc

Farm life and frog tent naps.

#farming #daddydaycare

For scale, this is a fully grown adult female hold

For scale, this is a fully grown adult female holding a giant #shiitake.

I wonder what the record is for largest shiitake..

I wonder what the record is for largest shiitake... This one is massive!

#shiitake #mushrooms #mushroomlogs #growyourownfood

I'm being a tad overcautious here... But at this p

I'm being a tad overcautious here... But at this point in the season, and with multiple friends having experienced catastrophic plant loss for one reason or another, I'm not taking any chances!!

#tuckedin

Today was a big step towards a long standing visio

Today was a big step towards a long standing vision of mine to turn the stunning @leicesterlibrary landscape into a foodtopia of sorts. It was over five years and three library managers ago that I first threw this vision into the universe, and for all the twists and turns, right now feels like the perfect time. The universe knows these things.

The vision has already grown beyond me, and all I've really been doing is holding space as a community of incredible people emerge with skills and knowledge and tools and ideas and smiles and motivation and a goal to grow food to share. In many ways creating this garden has been just like gardening, you plant a seed and have faith it'll grow, and in the meantime you try to keep the weeds from taking over.

So many people to thank; so much still to do. But the first post is in the ground and soon the Leicester Library Giving Garden will be a real thing 💚

#communitysupported #leicesterlibrarygivinggarden #givinggarden

So many wishes 💜

So many wishes 💜

My okra class starts today at 1130EST. Tune in for

My okra class starts today at 1130EST. Tune in for Youtube Live via the @soil3organiccompost youtube channel!

#okra

Love a breakfast radish, especially if it's French

Love a breakfast radish, especially if it's French!

#radish #gardening

I've been enjoying writing a gardening column for

I've been enjoying writing a gardening column for @edibleasheville 💜

#Repost @edibleasheville (@get_repost)
・・・
Gardening is cheaper than therapy AND you get tomatoes ... or so the saying goes. While mental health is certainly a serious issue and often requires professional help, science has shown that gardening can have positive benefits. Soil bacteria, for example, has been shown to boost serotonin levels and harvesting and gathering food has been linked to the release of dopamine.

At link in bio, discover more ways that gardening can reduce tension and stress. Subscribers to the print magazine received a list of local gardens and farms that welcome volunteers.

Story by @blueandyellowmakes and photo by @erinadamsphoto.

#Repost @zoeadjonyoh (@get_repost) ・・・ Okra

#Repost @zoeadjonyoh (@get_repost)
・・・
Okra Salt - A delicious finishing and cooking salt 🧂

Dehydrated Okra & High-Grade Sea Salt Flakes

Purchase this deliciousness over @ghanakitchen shop or zoesghanakitchen.com/shop

Werking on some new salt blends coming soon...

Gorgeous plates from @skandihus_london 🙏🏽

I love this animal ❤️

I love this animal ❤️

I heard @brietheplantlady talk about direct seedin

I heard @brietheplantlady talk about direct seeding into @soil3organiccompost last year and decided to give it a go! So far, pretty awesome results - happy plants, good root development, and no concerns about nutrient deficiency!

#compost #seedstarting

A perfectly tiny radish 💚 #spring #radish #gar

A perfectly tiny radish 💚

#spring #radish #gardening

They chose the wrong mulch pile for a nest. I re-h

They chose the wrong mulch pile for a nest. I re-homed, but am not hopeful. Also, they may be voles, so I'm conflicted...

Spring Break #mud

Spring Break #mud

Tea restock, just in time. #nettles

Tea restock, just in time.

#nettles

There's not many things quite as fine as a chocola

There's not many things quite as fine as a chocolate covered Hobnob. I miss living in a place where I don't have to explain myself about biscuits. Yes, there were occasional arguments about the true nature of Jaffa Cakes, but I'd take a Jaffa Cake brawl over the reductionism of the generic cookie any day.

I used to live in Moss Side and would cycle past the McVities biscuit factory on the way to my climbing job in Stockport. I liked to guess the biscuits they were baking based on the aromas that filled the streets. Digestives had a distinctive smell, kind of like they crossed a brewery with a kibble factory.

The Digestive is a classic working man's biscuit, a no frills sort of deal that requires an underappreciated skill to dunk successfully. Too quick and the biscuit remains dry, too long and the biscuit dissolves into a soggy mess. There's a hyper fine line when dunking Digestives.

Not so with the Hobnob, any old fool can dip a Hobnob. It must be the oats, layered in such a way to provide a binding tension under adverse conditions. That leisurely biscuit dip is an experience to be treasured.

#biscuits #hobnobs #england #mcvities #digestives #notacookie

#Repost @theokrapodcast (@get_repost) ・・・ In

#Repost @theokrapodcast (@get_repost)
・・・
In Episode 6 of #theokrapodcast, Sidney Nicholson recounts some beautiful, and often amusing, stories about his okra loving mother! Check it out via the link in the bio.

Sidney retired from a long career in law enforcement in NYC and became an after-school coordinator at Cornerstone Learning Community in Tallahassee, FL, where he mentored children, young people, and adults alike. He is a father and grandfather, and husband and partner to his childhood sweetheart, Gloria. He enjoys life outdoors and spending time with family and friends.

#okradio #okra #okrastories #okraloversunite #gumbo #okrasoup #okranews #growokra #podcast

Today we tried to eat our body weight in pea shoot

Today we tried to eat our body weight in pea shoots!

#peashoots #covercrops #microgreens

Training Emmy to beat @lieswine

Training Emmy to beat @lieswine

Episode 6 is LIVE - link bio. 2021 Okra Dreams: A

Episode 6 is LIVE - link bio.

2021 Okra Dreams: After a short winter break, @theokrapodcast is launching straight into spring. This episode is focused on growing okra and the upcoming season, but there’s plenty of food talk to get us dreaming about those hot harvest days. Marc Tancig, a University of Florida Extension Agent, shares expert advice on growing okra and talks nematodes with Rebekka. We’ll discuss okra varieties with Ira Wallace (@ira.wallace) of Southern Exposure Seed Exchange (@southernexposureseed) as well as food, memories and culture. And then this episode closes with some beautiful stories from Sidney Nicholson, who recounts his, often amusing, childhood responses to his okra-loving mother!

#okra #growokra #theokrapodcast #gardening #eating #seedsaving #nematodes #spring #seeds #okradreams #gumbo #okraradio #okraknowledge #okrastories #podheads #maythepodbewithyou

This made me think about that story of the Georgia

This made me think about that story of the Georgia man who was raided by a helicopter deployed armed squat team because they thought he was growing cannabis, but it turned out to be an okra patch...

#Repost @ficus.ceramica
• • • • • •
Dis dat Louisiana Green Velvet variety. Or you think it might be a Perkins Long Pod? Definitely not a Burgundy (this address is on Chartres). 😂 ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Okras are back in stock! Check the link in my bio for the best thing you'll buy yourself all week.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
#gumbo⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
#okra⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
#tokra⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
#smokra⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
#louisianagreenvelvet⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
#clemsonspineless⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
#cajunjewel⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
#hillcountryred⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
#perkinslongpod

#okra

I'm not sure if anyone has spent the last week obs

I'm not sure if anyone has spent the last week obsessing over the mysterious soap maker. I have. I even sent a press release to the @nytimes...

Mere minutes ago a friend casually sent me a text saying, "Did you get the okra soap?".

I laughed. I cried. And then I felt guilty for all the people I had falsely accused.

Last year I joined Justin (@eazy_veazey) from the @nuttybuddycollective to press some okra seed oil. Justin's wife, Anna (@annacatnana) made soap and added in some of the okra seed oil to make 'okra soap'. A block of said soap was left on my doorstep. Mystery solved 🤪

#okralife #okrasoap #okraseedoil

Get your okra seed oil while it's hot (or cold pre

Get your okra seed oil while it's hot (or cold pressed?!).

Also: did you hear that @oliverfarm has sponsored @utopianseedproject Okra Seed Oil Breeding Project for 2021. So EXCITED.

#Repost @oliverfarm (@get_repost)
・・・
Okra seed oil’s back in stock. #okraseedoil #OKRA #TheWholeOkra #seedtostem

#beautybelongseverywhere Take II, this time a C. m

#beautybelongseverywhere Take II, this time a C. maxima

#beautybelongseverywhere, Take I, C. moschata

#beautybelongseverywhere, Take I, C. moschata

Respect the bus 💚 #AirBnB

Respect the bus 💚

#AirBnB

There is only one person who knows where this came

There is only one person who knows where this came from. Perhaps someone can help me because that one person isn't me. Here's what I know:

1. It turned up on my doorstep this afternoon. So the mysterious gifter knows where I live.
2. It was in a brown paper bag labelled 'Okra Soap' - handwriting, unknown; ubiquitous black sharpie, unhelpful.
3. I'm worried that this is something I've discussed with unknown gifter and totally forgotten about, which would be embarrassing.
4. My first accusation was wrong. It wasn't @foodordeath_!
5. I'm now excited to shower for the first time in a long time.

#okrasoap #okra

Little person; big helper. #seedstarting

Little person; big helper.

#seedstarting

#Repost @utopianseedproject (@get_repost)
・・・
Check out the awesome article on our work in the Spring 2021 edition of @wncmagazine.

Note: this is my all time favorite description of myself 🙂

"As optimistic as a pocket full of seeds in Spring, Smith is working toward a resilient food and farming utopia in Western North Carolina and beyond."

Big thanks to @jenathan for writing.

#resilience #sustainableagriculture #wnc #food #farming #experimentalcrops #experimentalfarm

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