Harvesting Pole Beans and Planting Okra

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• Farm Updates

May 12th, 2021

We made the first harvest of our pole beans this week! Pole beans are bean varieties that climb while bush bean varieties (like our green beans) form bushier growth closer to the ground. Our pole beans are planted with a trellis that allows them plenty of real estate to climb and grow. The pole bean variety we have growing is called Bai Bu Lao. If harvested when young, Bai Bu Lao resembles a tender green bean. If left to mature, Bai Bu Lao begins to flatten out and resemble a Romano bean. Bai Bu Lao is great for stir fries and roasting. You can pick some up this Saturday at the farm stand from 10am to noon.

In preparation for summer, okra was transplanted this week along with melons and winter squashes. Did you know that okra is a member of the mallow family along with hibiscus, cotton, and cacao? Once our okra starts to produce flowers, you’ll begin to see the family resemblance as okra flowers bear a striking resemblance to hibiscus flowers. Okra is incredibly heat tolerant and will keep producing throughout our hottest months. Both the flowers and pods of okra are edible and have a sweet, grassy flavor.

We’re beginning to see the first signs of flowering among our corn crop! As the corn grows, they begin to form a tassel at the apex of the stalk. The tassel is the male flowering portion of the corn which will release pollen down to the silks (the female portion that you can see in the photo below) and lead to the production of the ear of corn. The pollination process goes on for about one to two weeks before the tassel begins to turn brown and die. If all goes well, we should be able to start harvesting our corn in the next month or so.