Today I went to visit my friend Judy to see her new method of growing vegetables. Judy read about building raised block bins and using rice hulls to amend the soil. Judy says her vegetables are twice as big as they were last year and attributes their health and size to using the rice hulls. That's the light colored stuff you see in the soil. Judy constructed the bins by stacking the block and overlapping the seams. It wasn't necessary to use any mortar as the block is strong enough to hold back the soil.
Judy's also has bent PVC pipe and inserted each end in the block. She uses the PVC pipe to place plastic over the bins if a frost is threatened or can put up some shade cloth if the weather gets too hot. I could even see some vines climbing up the PVC pipe.
Here's Judy's potato bin. She ran out of block, so she built this one out of wood. The beauty of a raised bin with rice hull, lightened soil, is digging for the potatoes is going to be super easy.
Judy made some scrumptious lunch too and the main course was curried okra, um um good! That's Judy's okra patch shown in the second photo. As the summer winds on, Judy said the okra gets over 6 feet tall and keep producing. We also had rice, summer squash and I brought some of my minted eggplant. Lunch was like dinner. I never eat that much for lunch, but I recalled visiting my grandmother in Arkansas when I was a child and remembered we always had a big meal for a late lunch and then something light for dinner.
Here's Judy's Curried Okra recipe: 1 pound young okra pods, stem-end cut off and discarded, chopped into 1/2 inch sections. Begin stir frying okra over medium heat in a little olive oil, stirring frequently. After about 10 minutes, add 1 red onion, finely chopped, and 1/4 tsp cayenne, 1/2 tsp curry powder, 1/4 tsp ground turmeric, salt and pepper to taste. Stir fry another 5 minutes, until onions are soft. Serve hot as a vegetable side dish, a main dish, or cold on bread as a sandwich. Even if you don't like okra, this is one recipe you have got to try, it is simply delicious.
Thank you Judy, for a wonderful visit and a super lunch.
