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pocossin

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I have not grown okra for forty years, but inspired by a neighbor, who although in declining health continues to grow one okra plant each year by her backdoor, I planted four varieties of okra to see what was best -- Fife's, Beck's, Abigail's, and Clemson Spineless. I live in zone 8, but think that there are some at Clarity who could grow okra, and others who would benefit from okra if they knew its virtues and who could buy it frozen if they could not grow it. My opinion is that many complaints of the intestinal tract, the major source of human ill health, could be relieved by an increased consumption of okra.

So far, a single plant of Fife's has been the most productive. I like the plump and easy-to-harvest pods of Beck's and am now letting it run to seed so that I can plant several rows of it next year. Abigail's -- I like the story, Abigail being a gourd and okra grower of Panama whose okra may be superior for okra coffee, as I will eventually find out, though I have read on the internet that okra coffee is undrinkable except in emergencies. And Clemson spineless. This is the standard variety here. It is productive, and the seed are cheap.

There is one serious restriction to okra -- vitamin K. Vitamin K is good for your health unless you are on warfarin as I am, and okra contains a serious 40µg of vitamin K per 100 grams, about 3.5 oz. If you are not limited by warfarin, you probably cannot consume too much okra. Beck's is less green than the others, and green is associated with vitamin K, thus my preference for Beck's. Use okra and live long.
 

moss elk

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Tom,
Do you like to stew it with tomatoes or bread and fry?
 

pocossin

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Tom,
Do you like to stew it with tomatoes or bread and fry?

I prefer them steamed whole. My brother-in-law likes them fried. His experience has been that restaurant fried okra is of poor quality but enjoys them at home. My sister likes them any way she can get them. They are also good straight from the bush and should do well in salads. As a child I disliked okra goo and think one should take special care in preparing them for children. For a gardener, the great thing about okra is that once they come into production, there is something to harvest every day. Persons who cannot check the garden daily should not grow okra because it quickly becomes tough.
 
B

butterfly spider

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Have been eating recently for gallstones and have been experiencing high blood pressure
Celery blackberries beetroot figs
Also OKRA is excellent but the only stuff here is grown in Kenya - which I will not eat

Perhaps I should try growing it ..
X
 

pocossin

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Have been eating recently for gallstones and have been experiencing high blood pressure
Celery blackberries beetroot figs
Also OKRA is excellent but the only stuff here is grown in Kenya - which I will not eat

Perhaps I should try growing it ..
X

For me, stopping salt, especially from canned foods, brought my blood pressure down to a good level. Stopping was hard to do, and I used Mrs. Dash's seasoning to transition to a low-sodium diet.

http://www.mlive.com/food/index.ssf/2009/09/ask_the_dietitian_celery_is_ok.html

Perhaps I should try growing it ..

Okra is a hot season crop, and I think it is too cool in the UK to grow it there.
 

pocossin

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Chinese reversals

One who does not have access to a book on Chinese inventions is unlikely to know how Chinese culture has impacted human welfare globally. The Chinese are different, and in my experience the difference is often advantageous. Chinese games are played on the lines rather than the spaces between the line. The game of Go (weiqi) is an example. The same reversals occur in vegetables.

Celtuce, a Chinese adaptation of lettuce, is grown for the core of its stalk rather than its leaf. In my limited experience, it is much more heat-resistant than lettuce.

Pak Choy (Bok Choi, etc.) is a turnip variety that is grown primarily for its stalk (petiole) rather than its root. I'd very much like to grow it because the flavor is good and it is very low in vitamin K, but it has a restricted temperature range. Too cool or too hot and it stops growing.

The Chinese long bean, a variety of fieldpea (vigna: cowpea in Britspeak. Warning: Wikipedia has gone to Britspeak), is grown for its seed in the USA, and the hull is discarded, but in China they are grown for the hull, similar to cut green beans. These Chinese beans are extraordinarily productive, and a few plants can supply a family. They are sometimes referred to as 'yard-long beans', but the varieties I am growning should be harvested when they are about 14 inches long.
 
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moss elk

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The game of go (weiqi) is an example.
Hi Tom,
I got to 3 dan before I got bored with it.
I learned many interesting proverbs from the game that are
extraordinarily useful in real life.
Example:
What is the best thing to do when you are in a no-win-situation?
Answer: Tenuki or 'Play Away'
(Do something else, somewhere else.) (39)
 

pocossin

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I got to 3 dan before I got bored with it.

I have no such ability. My interests are primarily literary. That is, I have read Magister Ludi and Kawbata's The Master of Go. I live in a relatively isolated rural area, and skill in Go requires competition.

I learned many interesting proverbs from the game that are
extraordinarily useful in real life.

I spent a 10-day period when infected with flu reading Takagawa's The Vital Points of Go and Segee's Go Proverbs Illustrated, but practically none of it stuck in my feverish brain. They mostly concern tactics but ignore the fundamental strategic question: Of all the points available for play, which is best? I do remember that like a spider I should begin in a corner, but that's about it.
 
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moss elk

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Yeah the tactics are considerable, much reading (visualizing) is required. (Then having to hold a pattern in mind while reading another 20-30 move pattern, then another, and another.) But the big question about where to play...
For beginners and intermediate players, they always are doing a mental checklist of principles. But at more advanced levels, you can actually sometimes see the best move sometimes without knowing exactly why until after you play it. It is the spot on the board that shimmers, like a mini mirage for a moment. And as soon as you play it, it surprises both players. BUT it is useless without tactics/fundementals.
(And no, the artist who illuminated that in her manga work did not make it up, she learned it from talking to players.)
 

pocossin

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For beginners and intermediate players, they always are doing a mental checklist of principles. But at more advanced levels, you can actually sometimes see the best move sometimes without knowing exactly why until after you play it. It is the spot on the board that shimmers, like a mini mirage for a moment. And as soon as you play it, it surprises both players. BUT it is useless without tactics/fundementals.
(And no, the artist who illuminated that in her manga work did not make it up, she learned it from talking to players.)

This is an extremely important point and occurs in I Ching divination. The truth is the point that shimmers. How do we arrive at the best of all possible advice? At the moment I cannot say. I have only the experience and do not have the words. I have been criticized by some at Clarity for not having the words, but I am certain that they do not see the point that shimmers.
 

betrdanevr

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Intuition?

This is an extremely important point and occurs in I Ching divination. The truth is the point that shimmers. How do we arrive at the best of all possible advice? At the moment I cannot say. I have only the experience and do not have the words. I have been criticized by some at Clarity for not having the words, but I am certain that they do not see the point that shimmers.

I am very new to I-ching and this forum, but I enjoy reading your posts very much. Matter of fact, I look for them, Pocossin. I think what you are using is INTUITION -- a magnificent gift, hard to explain, but valid and very often correct. Thank you for exercising it here!

And I wish I could see the shimmering too.
 

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