FRIED "OKRIE"

Had I grown up in a more northern climate, perhaps the allure of spring would have felt different for me. Maybe I would have looked forward to snow melting away. Or maybe I would have anxiously awaited soccer season, which was an unknown game to me as a child. But growing up in central Alabama with a grandfather who loved to garden, I spent a lot of early spring days thinking about what we'd be planting, hoeing, and picking in the weeks to come. And there was one plant that towered above the others as far as I was concerned... okra! Some of the old timers I knew called it "okrie." So fried okrie and peas, purple hull peas, have always been among my favorite meals. Now, I garden with raised beds and I grow what we like to eat. No frills, just vegetables.  So, I decided to write about it. Enjoy the blog. Sweat. Get your hands dirty, and let's go grow something!