A lot of folks say they don’t like okra, but the deer at New Moon Farms just south of Loganville love it. They also love green beans, watermelon, cucumbers and sunflowers. And they don’t even wait for the vegetables to grow or the sunflowers to blossom. They just nibble the young plants right down to the ground.
That’s been Mike Moon’s experience this year. About the middle of May, he planted 10 200-foot long rows of okra, each seed dropped in six inches from its neighbor. That’s 2,000 row feet of okra. And no sooner did the plants come up, then the deer came in and ate the tender young seedlings.
The land he’s farming has been in the family since the early 1800s.
Now a firefighter in Loganville, Moon has 13 more years until retirement and is planning to keep farming right up until retirement and beyond. He hopes to pass along at least some of the land to his children.
And he isn’t giving up on okra. In mid-July he prepared to plant okra again, although this time under plastic mulch. He’s growing Clemson spineless green okra, the same variety his grandfather planted when Moon was a young child.
If a farmer keeps his okra picked, he’ll have new pods coming along right up until frost. Picking okra can be an itchy job, although Moon doesn’t find himself bothered by the prickly hairs of the okra plants. His mother and wife don’t have the same immunity, so they use gloves when they’re harvesting.
Fortunately, his customers like okra prepared in many different ways. He sells to restaurants like Graft in Grayson, to local produce stands like Three Peas in a Pod in Loganville and to local residents.
And he takes it to his booth at the Saturday morning Snellville Farmers Market. His new crop should be ready to harvest in early September, if the deer will let the plants grow.
Robbins is a loyal supporter of local farmers and farmers markets. Well-known for her chef demos around town, she created this recipe for a demo at the Peachtree Road Farmers Market.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place a large cast iron skillet in oven to heat at the same time.
Per serving: 130 calories (percent of calories from fat, 77), 2 grams protein, 6 grams carbohydrates, 2 grams fiber, 11 grams fat (2 grams saturated), no cholesterol, 78 milligrams sodium.
Per 1-tablespoon serving: 92 calories (percent of calories from fat, 97), trace protein, trace carbohydrates, trace fiber, 10 grams fat (1 gram saturated), no cholesterol, 90 milligrams sodium.