Bilyeu Farm, Okra

Okra

Okra by Dale Grubaugh It was late afternoon one day last summer. The hot drafts off the ridges played over the Bilyeu Ranch, pushing down toward the Finley River. We were in the garden, checking on beans and tomatoes and what-not when Miss Shirley Bilyeu poked her head out the back door. “Brother Dale, you…

Lettuce

Lettuce

Lettuce by Joshua Heston and Dale Grubaugh. Everybody knows lettuce. However, good heirloom lettuces are a whole different critter from the water-laden iceberg cultivars found in the grocery store. Mild and spicy, crispy and loose-leaved, heirloom lettuce come in many forms. Amish Deer Tongue. Cimmaron. Forellenschluss. Mascara Oak Leaf. Sanguine Amellore. Hands-down, one of the…

Beets

Beets

Beets by Joshua Heston and Dale Grubaugh. As with many fruits and vegetables from old-time Ozark gardens, beets were brought to these hills — and to North America — by European immigrants. The beet is a member of the Chenopodiaceae family, which, in part, explains the hard, crunchy-textured seeds (actually clusters of nutlets). The beet,…

Reisentraube Tomatoes

Reisentraube Tomatoes

Reisentraube Tomatoes by Joshua Heston and Dale Grubaugh. Seeds provided by baker Creek Seeds, Mansfield, Missouri. The red, bright fruit of the Reisentraube — small compared to the mighty Mortgage Lifter or Millionaire varieties — clustered almost like grapes (the name means “Giant Bunch of Grapes” in German) can be plentiful even in dry, hot…

Tomato Hills

Tomato Hills

Plate 1. Reeds Spring Tomato Cannery. Tomato Hills by Joshua Heston Solanum lycopersicum. It’s quite a name for the ever’day tomato. A member of the Nightshade family (along with sweet potatoes, peppers and, of course, the deadly nightshade), the tomato is native to the Americas. Some believed for along time that the plants and fruits…