Growing Okra In Southwest Washington State & Other Garden Stuff

I feel like I tend to gloss over what I'm doing with my greenhouse.

First, I'd like to say that, realistically, I'd like to get a couple more greenhouses. The size is good fit for me and I could expand what I grow exponentially. They are tall enough to run a trellis in and with having two doors, at either end, they are fairly easy to regulate as far as temperature goes.

Let's do a quick walk-through, shall we?

First off, here's a livestock report. We have developed a system for these guys. We throw our veggie scraps out in strategic areas of the yard and they seem to leave my garden alone. If they continue to be like that, we can co-exist. 

This guy was across the driveway. He wasn't even scared of Rose! Rose doesn't seem all that interested in chasing them anyhow. I think she tried a couple of times and figured out that it was fighting a losing battle because as fast as she is, they are even faster.

We've inquired about a male Australian kelpie. He's located in Texas. He'd be a rescue. We're trying to find out how much it would be to ship him up here. I'll keep you updated on that.

I'm beyond excited!! I do not live in a climate that is conducive to growing okra. We don't have a hot enough climate for them. I planted out two heirloom varieties, Jing Orange and Okinawa Pink (both are Baker Creek varieties) and, yesterday, I noticed my first okra blossom. Today, I have baby okra. From what I know about okra, it will be this size this morning and huge by tonight or tomorrow morning. I'm very excited about this experiment working out in my benefit. Okra will always have a place in my greenhouse from now on. I am planning on getting another greenhouse that I can dedicate half of it to growing okra. I love the stuff! This is an Jing Orange okra.

This is my Loofah Gourd. It's growing right along. I don't think I'll actually get any production from it but I wanted to see if I could even grow it here. Now that I know that I can, I'll grow it next year but I'll start out much earlier. I only gave the cucurbits a 5 week head start. I think they need double that amount of time, so I'll start them in mid-April in 2023.

This is one of the Okinawa Pink okra. I have about  4 or 5 baby okra on my plants. I think I wound up with 7 plants total. 

Bob's not a huge fan, so this will be plenty for me. 

These are my 4 cucamelon plants. I'm hoping that they will produce. I think I'll have enough time. I'd love to pickle some of these up for this winter.

I grew my first cucamelon last year. I got like 4 little cucamelons off of it. Cucamelons like to be very warm and being in the greenhouse lets me create the perfect habitat for them.

In this pot, I have Tigger melons in the front and Kajari melons in the back. Both are Baker Creek varieties. I know that cucurbits are easy to cross but I am not planning on saving seeds from these this year. I just want to see if I can actually grow a melon in the greenhouse. If I'm able to, I'll worry about bagging some blooms next year to save seeds from. I still have plenty of each variety leftover.

Next to the Kajari and Tigger melons, I have a Siamese Bitter melon vine growing. I had to untangle it from the window screen and wind it around the stake.

This is another one of those things that I'm experimenting with this year to see if I could even hope to get it to produce.
I do love bitter melon soup and Vietnamese stuffed bitter melon.

Here's another view of the 2 melons.

I think that, this winter, we'll use the white vinegar method of killing weeds and then lay down some landscape fabric and cover it with wood chips. I'm really over the weeds. As good of a growing environment that this greenhouse is for my melons and okra, the weeds love it even more!

Here is my Minnesota Midget cantaloupe. I haven't had a good cantaloupe since we lived up in Silverlake and we were buying those Hood River cantaloupes at the market in Castle Rock. They were so delicious. I'm hoping to replicate that flavor by growing my own. I picked a short season variety. I believe these seeds came from MIGardener, which surprises me because I don't usually have the greatest luck with his seeds.
I ordered from him this past year because he was the only seed vendor offering Spring Blush peas. I threw the cantaloupes in on a whim.

They are blooming so we'll see.

Another shot of the Baker Creek melons next to the Cucamelons. All 3 of these varieties came from Baker Creek.

My old neighbor gave me a pot of gladiolus. I'm not sure what variety they are. She may have even picked them up from the Dollar Tree. No matter. They are stunningly gorgeous!

I still have my rose bushes in a pot. They aren't looking the greatest. We didn't get them planted out this year so that's our project over the winter.

Here's the lowest terrace. The hose is stretched down there because we have a sprinkler in the orchard.
Speaking of the orchard, we had a tree full of pie cherries 4 days ago and, yesterday, the birds had completely stripped it clean. We didn't get one cherry off of either tree. We'll have to net them next year, for sure.

I didn't notice the little guy when I was taking the photo, but there's another rabbit down there. LOL. We have them all over. If we drive down the driveway in the morning or evening, we have to go super slow. It's not just because of the potholes, it's because there are so many wild rabbits all over the place.

We also noticed that our wild blackberries are starting to turn red. In a couple of weeks, we should be able to pick some.

And here is yet another wild rabbit. This guy is eating the lettuce leaves that we threw out there for them. Our supermarket had carrots on special, so we bought a pound of them. We broke up a few and tossed them here and there, in areas that are not near the garden. We're hoping that the deer and rabbits enjoy their snacks.

Thanks for taking the tour! Enjoy!

Garden Chat With Enoch Graham

 Recently, I got to chat with Enoch Graham. For those of you that don't know, Enoch has a YouTube channel called The Urban Gardener and a Facebook group called Let's Get Growing. I'll post links at the end of the post. Make sure to subscribe to Enoch's channel and ask to join his group. Both are awesome.

Q: What do you specialize in, as far as gardening?
A: I grow fruits and vegetables in small urban spaces. I am using containers and elevated raised beds as well as in-ground spaces along my city alleyways. Using all sorts of organic methods to grow as much of my own food as I can. There are so many ways to take advantage of just a little amount of space, and it is my mission to learn and teach as many methods as I can to help encourage others to start a garden and grow food for themselves.

Q: When did you first get interested in growing?
A: I have always had an interest in growing things, as a kid I followed in my mothers love for plants and grew many of my own. I grew a lot of houseplants throughout my life, but it wasn’t until 10 years ago that I was gifted a cucumber seedling and grew that plant out on my apartment balcony at the time. I had never thought, because of my small space living, that I could grow my own food. So I continued to grow more and more each season since, and today I share my gardening adventures with many viewers on my YouTube channel “the Urban Gardener.” That cucumber started a passion for gardening that continues to grow to this day.

Q: Do you have a personal favorite to grow?
A: I enjoy the process of growing new to me varieties of plants, but if I were to choose one, it would be peppers. Every variety of pepper plant presents it’s own set of challenges for success, and there are so many varieties. There are delicious sweets to brain melting super-hots with an array of pod shapes and sizes. I usually grow about 20 different varieties each season in 5-gallon wicking containers around our gardens. My favorite variety of pepper is a super sweet variety called Doux des Landes, it has a large long deep red pod that looks like a big cayenne with a nicely ribbed top. If you didn’t know, you would probably think that it was a hot pepper, as it does disguise itself well. These peppers are sweet as candy and super delicious. They usually don’t make it to the kitchen as I snack on them right in the garden.


Q: On average, how many plants do you grow at once?
A: Too many to count, lol. I really do try to grow as much food as I can, and grow hundreds of plants throughout the season. I do mostly keep to growing the things that I enjoy eating, trying new varieties of those things. I also try to grow something new each season as well to expand my tastes and growing knowledge, this year I am trying okra. I saw some plants last season and knew I had to grow those beautiful flowers as well as give the plant a taste test.

Q: Tell me about your mentor. Who are they and why?
A: I don’t have any personal mentors in gardening or otherwise, but I do have a lot of big influences. When I first began growing my own food I learned from a lot of YouTube gardeners, as it was a great place to get the basic knowledge I needed to grow my own garden. Like Ray Browning, I learned a lot about gardening from him but mostly that the rules are pretty loose and that experimenting with growing is a great way to learn. He was also a big influence on me starting my own YouTube channel years later. One of the greatest things about my channel is that I have had the chance to meet some of my biggest influences in gardening. Even gaining friendships with some, like John Kohler from “Growing Your Greens” who I watched for years and since have done many videos with.

Q: Tell me what inspired you to start vlogging on YouTube?
A: I was watching Ray on his channel “Praxxus 55712” many years ago and he bought a new camera and was giving away his old cameras through a contest. I entered to win the cameras, but at the time I hadn’t even thought about starting a channel with them. I don’t even know what I would have done with them really, but in the long run I didn’t win them. It did however plant a seed in my brain that after having many people compliment my gardens and the way I used the spaces, I began to think about sharing some of what I had learned over the last several years. So I began to think about Ray, and how he was just this regular guy showing people how to garden. Even though I had never envisioned myself doing that sort of thing I thought I should give it a shot. It really changed my life, the people I have met in the gardening community are the greatest and the support I get from them is amazing!

Q: How many varieties of seeds are in your personal collection right now?
A: I have a lot of seeds in my collection, definitely in the hundreds. With many added each season. I also love to grow out several varieties of plants in the garden to save the seeds from too. It took a little while to gain the skills to grow most things from seed, but it is a great feeling to grow and harvest from plants that you have grown from seed. Especially from seed you saved from last season!

Q: What is the rarest seed in your collection?
A: The rarest seeds I have are probably some pepper crosses that I have been gifted by some talented pepper growers. For the most part I tend to stick with a collection of seeds that I am growing consistently, but I do like trying some new things when they come my way. Like some luffa gourd seeds a friend sent me last season that I am trying to get a successful plant from.

Q: What is the name of your Facebook group and your YouTube channel?
A: Let's Get Growing! A Gardening Group on Facebook. Click here to join.
On, YouTube, The Urban Gardener. Click here to view and subscribe.
Click here to follow on Instagram.

And for the last question:

Q: What has been your favorite garden to visit for your vlog?
A: Even though I enjoy sharing my own gardens with the viewers of the Urban Gardener channel, I really like to visit with other gardeners and see their growing spaces. I have been fortunate and have seen many really cool gardens, from a rooftop garden on a building in Portland to one of our “Let’s Get Growing!” FB group member’s home urban garden. My favorite garden that I have been to visit has to be L.A.’s “The Urban Homestead,” an awesome urban farm run by the Dervaes family since 1985, it is just an amazing space to be in for a lover gardens such as myself. I encourage everyone to check out our channels “features” playlists and see some of these awesome visits.

I'd like to thank Enoch for taking time out to humor me and my questions. I know that this is a busy time of the year for everyone.
So, make sure to subscribe to Enoch's YouTube channel and join his Facebook group and GET GROWING!!