2021 Okra Dreams: After a winter break, we are launching straight into spring. E6 focuses on growing okra and the upcoming season, but there’s plenty of food talk to get us dreaming about those hot harvest days. Mark Tancig, a UF Extension Agent, shares expert advice on growing okra and talks nematodes.  We discuss okra varieties with Ira Wallace of SESE as well as food, memories and culture. And we close with some beautiful stories from Sidney Nicholson, who recounts his, often amusing, childhood responses to his okra-loving mother! 

Meet the Guests

Mark Tancig is the Commercial/Residential Horticulture Extension Agent for Leon County, FL, where he shares research-based best practices for sustainable landscape management. Mark also coordinates the Leon County Master Gardener Volunteer Program. His articles are regularly published in the Tallahassee Democrat. Contact.

Information About Nematodes:

• Nematode Management in Vegetable Garden 
• Cover Crops for Nematode Management 
• Nematode Assay Form (UF) 

Ira Wallace is a worker/owner of the cooperative Southern Exposure Seed Exchange. Ira serves on the boards of the Organic Seed Alliance, and the Virginia Association for Biological Farming. Ira is an organizer of the Heritage Harvest Festival at Monticello. She was named a 2019 Great American Gardener by the American Horticultural Society. She is author of the Timber Press Guide to Vegetable Gardening in the Southeast and a subsequent  state specific book series.

Sidney Nicholson retired from a long career in law enforcement in NYC and became an after-school coordinator at Cornerstone Learning Community in Tallahassee, FL, where he mentored children, young people, and adults alike. He is a father and grandfather, and husband and partner to his childhood sweetheart, Gloria. He enjoys life outdoors and spending time with family and friends.

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We hope you enjoyed the music outtakes from, The Okra Song, courtesy of Hot Tamale.

Subscribe to this podcast wherever you get your podcast fix and follow us on Instagram and Facebook.

Email questions and comments to theokrapodcast@gmail.com. Also, consider supporting us with as little as $1 a month via Patreon.

Thanks from your Co-hosts, Chris Smith and Rebekka White! 

India's Bhindi: A Romp Through Okraland: We speak with long time food writer, Rushina Munshaw Ghildiyal, who gives us a mouthwatering overview of okra across India. Rushina’s interview is a fantastic glimpse into the diversity on offer. After Rushina we speak with two chefs in India who both bring a creative, experimental eye to a traditional food. Executive chef, Vidit Aren, shares his personal journey with okra and some okra research and development at the Mumbai restaurant, Slink and Bardot. And then Rachel Goenka, award winning restauranteur, chef and author, shares her solution to having too much okra!

Rushina Munshaw Ghildiyal: A culinary expert, writer and consultant. Rushina focuses on food history and stories around ingredients, cuisines, and the people who cook them. In 2013 she published A Pinch of this, A Handful of that and continues to keep an amazing food blog. Here is a link to her Spice Chronicles project on Instagram.  Follow her on Instagram.

Chef Vidit Aren: Executive Chef at Slink and Bardot and recently awarded 40 under 40 in Condé nast list of chefs pan India. Aren's journey through the culinary world has shaped him into a razor-sharp chef with boundless energy and a drive for innovation. Follow him on Instagram.

Rachel Goenka: A Le Cordon Bleu-trained chef who took her culinary and patisserie training back to Mumbai and has since opened multiple award winning restaurants and eateries in India as the founder and CEO of The Chocolate Spoon Company. She is described as contemporary and creative and experimental, and has written an award winning book, Adventures in Mithai, which is a cookbook exploring international techniques to create luscious delicacies. Follow her on Instagram.

We hope you enjoyed the music outtakes from, The Okra Song, courtesy of Hot Tamale.

Please subscribe to this podcast wherever you get your podcast fix and follow us on Instagram and Facebook. Email questions and comments to theokrapodcast@gmail.com.

Also consider supporting us with as little as $1 a month via Patreon.

Your Co-hosts

Chris Smith is a seed saver and permaculturist who loves to write. He is executive director of the Utopian Seed Project, a crop-trialing non-profit working to celebrate food and farming. His book, The Whole Okra, won a James Beard Foundation Award in 2020. More info at blueandyellowmakes.com and utopianseed.org or on Instagram.

Rebekka White is an okrapreneur, artist, and lifelong learner. She believes in planting seeds and growing visions. Her work is committed to building a village that respects and values the contributions of all its inhabitants. Contact her on Instagram at the_wildokra_projects.  

Okra's Family: This episode is centered around okra. That may sound a little crazy given this is a podcast all about okra, but we really wanted an opportunity to get to know okra on okra’s own terms. We hear from Jordan Collins, who shares some botanical origins and agronomic potential of okra. We're honored that Roy Blount Jr. shares his Song to Okra and some slippery stories. And two talented 'Botanists in the Kitchen' share botanical and culinary insights which may leave you hungering for a plate of fried okra and mole! We hope this episode leaves you knowing okra just a little bit better! 

Meet our Guests

Jordan Collins: Jordan is a biology student at Arizona State University and a verified okra devotee. Follow his impressive research and okra explorations via Instagram.

Roy Blount Jr: Not only the author of a Song to Okra, but writer and radio personality who’s numerous achievements and contributions have made him a larger than life figure. Roy Blount Jr. is an American writer and author of 24 books, his latest book is titled, “Save room for Pie”. He’s a humorist, a reporter, a panelist on NPR’s, “Wait, wait don’t tell me” and so much more, but most importantly, he is an Okravore who does not turn away when things get slimy.

 The Botanist(s) in the Kitchen:  Both Katherine Preston and Jeanne Osnas are PhD plant ecologists and evolutionary biologists who love to cook.  They are plant nerds with knives.  Between them they have been teaching college courses in basic botany, taxonomy, ecology and evolution for nearly 30 years. They are self-taught cooks with pretty different diets.  Katherine is a long-time vegetarian who could eat her weight in broccoli any given day, especially with an excellent baguette.  Jeanne is an omnivore, especially fond of wild-caught foods and garden-grown veggies. Follow them on Twitter.

We hope you enjoyed the music outtakes from, The Okra Song, courtesy of Hot Tamale.

Please subscribe to this podcast wherever you get your podcast fix and follow us on Instagram and Facebook. Email questions and comments to theokrapodcast@gmail.com.

Also consider supporting us with as little as $1 a month via Patreon.

Your Co-hosts

Chris Smith is a seed saver and permaculturist who loves to write. He is executive director of the Utopian Seed Project, a crop-trialing non-profit working to celebrate food and farming. His book, The Whole Okra, won a James Beard Foundation Award in 2020. More info at blueandyellowmakes.com and utopianseed.org or on Instagram.

Rebekka White is an okrapreneur, artist, and lifelong learner. She believes in planting seeds and growing visions. Her work is committed to building a village that respects and values the contributions of all its inhabitants. Contact her on Instagram at the_wildokra_projects.