Pandemic Pickled Okra

So it has been about two years since my last blog post. I have been busy working on a PhD in Biological Oceanography. However, with the pandemic of 2020 I started worrying again about food supply chains and well, with being home for the last four months I have had some time. I also took a break from dissertation writing (because working from home while having kids at home and even trying to school them did not mix with my PhD work).

So both my husband and I have been working in the garden and things are growing. We both love pickled okra (the kids, not so much). But it's pricey (approximately 3.50 per 16 oz jar, sometimes more depending on brand). However, my six okra plants have only started producing (we were a little late in planting) so I bought a pound of okra from the Red Hills Online Market . I also grabbed some gator sausage there because a couple years ago I got a tick bite that makes me allergic to all mammalian meat and it's nice to have something other than poultry or fish). I also got farm fresh eggs since my new group of chickens are not laying yet (also a pandemic food supply scare purchase after having been chicken free for over a year due to a run down coop that needed fixing to be predator proof).

I got two buff orpingtons, two easter eggers, and two noir marans from Woodville Ace Hardware. They are supposed to be sexed pullets, but surprise! We ended up with a rooster (10% error rate) who will be going off to freezer camp later. 

I picked up my market bag from Espositos (one of their hubs) on Thursday but I didn't have the rest of what I needed and that had to wait until the weekend. I didn't have mustard or dill seeds on hand, and not enough apple cidar vinegar.

Ingredients include 1 lb okra (plus one I got from my garden), 6 garlic cloves, and apple cider vinegar, dill seed, mustard seed, crushed pepper flakes, and salt and sugar for the brine.

The brine is mostly vinegar and my 9 year old came in after I was done to tell me the kitchen smells terrible. Sorry kid.

Here is the end product. We are waiting for all the lids to pop. I think there should be more than 1 pound for the six jars I got (per the recipe) because they didn't all pack well.  I also need to be careful to pick them at just the right size, I had to cut some in half to fit in my jars.

My okra plants look promising, they have the coolest flowers, so hopefully, I will get to make some more in the future. Perhaps a spicy variety using dried peppers.

This batch of pickled okra was not cheaper than store bought (I estimated $2.47 for a 8oz jar) but now that I have some of the main ingredients (dill and mustard seed) it will be cheaper in the future, especially if my gardens starts producing more okra. Best of all I got to dust off my grandma's canning pot.