About Olives & Okra

I’m Sherry, and I grow more food than is strictly reasonable in a regular suburban backyard outside Orlando, Florida.

I came to this the long way. For years I rushed through dinner, bought the herbs I could’ve grown on the windowsill, and treated the yard as something to mow rather than something to eat from. Then I started planting things, mostly badly at first. I put in a spring garden my first May here and watched the Florida summer cook it to the ground in three weeks. That failure taught me more than any seed packet did: down here the rules are backwards, and nobody writing the popular gardening advice seems to live in zone 9b.

So I started keeping notes, and this is where they live. Olives & Okra is about three things that turned out to be the same thing: growing food in a hot, contrary climate, cooking it once it’s piling up on the counter, and using my hands on the slow days when it’s too miserable to be outside.

In the garden, that’s okra that thrives in the heat that flattens my tomatoes, figs and elderberries that fruit in deep summer when everything else quits, and a fall garden I plant while the rest of the country is pulling theirs out. In the kitchen, it’s whatever’s in season plus the from-scratch staples I make on a normal weeknight, and pickling or freezing the overflow before it goes soft. The making is mostly crochet and sewing for the kitchen, dishcloths and trivets and the like, the kind of project you can finish in a weekend.

I’m not a master gardener or a trained chef. I’m a home cook and a backyard grower who’s made most of the mistakes already and writes them down so you can skip a few. Everything here is something I’ve actually grown, cooked, or made, photographed in my own yard and kitchen, dead plants and all.

If you want the short version of how I do any of it, [the free Central Florida planting calendar] is the place to start. Otherwise, [poke around the garden], [come into the kitchen], or just [say hello] if you grow okra too and want to compare notes.

Homesteading, to me, is more than just a lifestyle; it’s about reconnecting with nature, being self-reliant, and rediscovering the traditional skills that our fast-paced world often overlooks. This blog is a window into my world – a place where I share my experiences, triumphs, and challenges as I navigate the rewarding path of suburban homesteading.