Category Archives: Gardening

Peppers 2012-08-18

Okra, you are not a pepper! Now that sparkly thing, that's a pepper!

Gretchen has these peppers Valdosta Farm Days today, 9AM to 1PM today at the historic Lowndes County Courthouse in downtown Valdosta.

Habanero and okra Sparkly

Habanero Pepper row

Pictures by John S. Quarterman for Okra Paradise Farms, Lowndes County, Georgia, 18 August 2012.

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Pumpkins

Gretchen has something new at Valdosta Farm Days today: pumpkins! That’s 9AM to 1PM today at the historic Lowndes County Courthouse in downtown Valdosta.

Pumpkin flower closeup Pumpkin

Pumpkin and flower

Pumpkin and flower
John S. Quarterman, Gretchen Quarterman, Brown Dog, Yellow Dog,
Pictures by John S. Quarterman for Okra Paradise Farms, Lowndes County, Georgia, 18 August 2012.

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Master Gardeners of three states

Master Gardeners of New York, Georgia, and Virginia:

Master Gardeners of New York, Georgia, and Virginia

Master Gardeners of New York, Georgia, and Virginia
Julie?, Gretchen Quarterman, Lindsey Williams
Pictures by John S. Quarterman for Okra Paradise Farms, Lowndes County, Georgia, 11 August 2012.

Locally Known:

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Trying out the solar dehydrator @ Okra Paradise Farms 2012-08-04

Testing out the solar dehydrator with okra, tomatoes, peppers, and a thermometer:

Vegetables, fruits, and a thermometer Door closed

Pictures of Gretchen Quarterman with the solar dehydrator
by John S. Quarterman for Okra Paradise Farms, Lowndes County, Georgia, 4 August 2012.

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Solar dehydrator, Okra Paradise Farms, 3 August 2012

The sun shines through the window into the lower box, heating air that rises through the upper box, dehydrating fruits and vegetables on the racks. That's the theory; we'll see if it works. Idea shamelessly stolen from Raven Waters; I figure it's his fault if it doesn't work. 🙂

Holding racks Placing racks

Gretchen Quarterman placing racks in the solar dehydrator
Pictures by John S. Quarterman for Okra Paradise Farms, Lowndes County, Georgia, 3 August 2012.

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Gretchen Quarterman at Lowndes County Extension 14 June 2012

As a Georgia Master Gardener, Gretchen Quarterman volunteers two afternoons one afternoon a week at the Lowndes County Extension Office on US 84 east of Valdosta, identifying plants and pests, and making recommendations to citizens who call in or who bring in samples.

Closeup sample in bottle:

Closeup sample in bottle

Closeup sample in bottle
Pictures by John S. Quarterman for Okra Paradise Farms, Lowndes County, Georgia, 14 June 2012.

Sample in bottle:

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Bee in okra flower, Okra Paradise Farms, 19 July 2012

This is how we get new okra to eat:

This is how we get new okra to eat

This is how we get new okra to eat
Picture by John S. Quarterman for Okra Paradise Farms, Lowndes County, Georgia, 19 July 2012.

I've seen on the okra blooms honeybees, bumblebees, and several kinds of wasps, all pollinating and making more okra.

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Want some 2,4-D with that drifting Roundup and Paraquat?

Got enough Roundup and Paraquat drifting onto you? Want some 2,4-D with that? If not, you can send your comments to USDA now. Hey, what if we all plowed under the mutant pigweed instead of breeding more with poison soup!

Tom Philpott wrote for Mother Jones 18 July 2012, USDA Prepares To Greenlight Gnarliest GMO Soy Yet,

In early July, on the sleepy Friday after Independence Day, the USDA quietly signaled its intention to greenlight a new genetically engineered soybean seed from Dow AgroSciences. The product is designed to produce soy plants that withstand 2,4-D, a highly toxic herbicide (and, famously, the less toxic component in the notorious Vietnam War-era defoliant Agent Orange).

Readers may remember that during an even-sleepier period—the week between Christmas and the New Year—the USDA made a similar move on Dow’s 2,4-D-ready corn.

If the USDA deregulates the two products—as it has telegraphed its intention to do—Dow will enjoy a massive profit opportunity. Every year, about half of all US farmland is planted in corn and soy. Currently, Dow’s rival Monsanto has a tight grip on weed management in corn-and-soy country. Upwards of 90 percent of soy and 70 percent of corn is engineered to withstand another herbicide called glyphosate through highly profitable Monsanto’s Roundup Ready seed lines. And after so many years of lashing so much land with the same herbicide, glyphosate-resistant superweeds are now vexing farmers and “alarming” weed-control experts throughout the midwest.

And that’s where Dow’s 2,4-D-ready corn and soy seeds come in. Dow’s novel products will be engineered to withstand glyphosate and 2,4-D, so farmers can douse their fields with both herbicides; the 2,4-D will kill the weeds that glyphosate no longer can. That’s the marketing pitch, anyway.

There’s more in the article.

It can also get into your well water, and then, according to EPA:

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Tomatoes on the wash screen, Okra Paradise Farms, 15 July 2012

Before:

Before

Before
John S. Quarterman, Gretchen Quarterman, Brown Dog, Yellow Dog,
Pictures by John S. Quarterman for Okra Paradise Farms, Lowndes County, Georgia, 15 July 2012.

After: Tomato, jalapeno, habanero, bird pepper:

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