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.

Participate in the Whidby White CSS Project.

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

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