Okra in a can is yummy, too

Some families get their okra out of a can, and one of the South’s preferred brand names is “Margaret Holmes,” which was founded in the early 1930s by farmer Ed Holmes of Sandersville, Ga. He began by canning white acre peas and squash, working out of his kitchen. 

He named the company after his wife, Margaret, who helped oversee the operation. The Holmes family’s canning business was acquired in 1985 by McCall Farms of Effingham, S.C., which is dedicated to manufacturing a wide variety of Southern-style food products. 

In addition to Margaret Holmes, major McCall Farms brands include Glory Foods, Peanut Patch boiled peanuts and Bruce’s Yams (sweet potatoes).

 

Susan Slack, a cookbook author and culinary commentator in Charleston, S.C., said: “The Margaret Holmes’ line of canned goods are “some of the tastiest canned goods I have ever eaten. Although my motto is, ‘fresh is best,’ Margaret Holmes offers cooked veggies ‘almost’ as delicious as your grandmother can make.” 

“I was surprised at their excellent quality and flavor,” Slack said. She has taste-tested the three okra products offered – plain okra, okra and tomatoes and the okra-tomatoes-corn combo. “All would make nice additions to a pot of homemade soup.” 

“Margaret Holmes canned vegetables can be heated on your stovetop or in the microwave,” Slack said. “I was prepared to add additional seasoning to improve the flavor, but found it unnecessary.” 

Okra is a ‘sock-o’ college mascot

 Sports opponents of Delta State University fear getting smacked by “The Fighting Okra” mascot that lives on the Delta State campus in Cleveland, Miss.

The Fighting Orka is lean, mean and green…and wears boxing gloves. Whap. Ka-Pow. Bam. Bop. Bonk.

Delta State teams compete in the Gulf South Conference within the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II level.

About 4,000 students are enrolled at the university. In 1985, they decided their Delta State “Statesman” mascot may talk (or orate) a good game, but he did little to get the school’s athletic teams and fans jacked up to punch out the competition. 

Hannah Kistemaker of Mooresville, N.C., who was co-editor in chief of the Delta State student newspaper in 2017, said a member of the varsity baseball team came up with the okra idea, because the vegetable was “fuzzy and tough.” 

“At the next basketball game in 1985, the baseball players lined the bleachers. They were ready to fill in where the Statesman could not – chanting. ‘Okra! Okra! Okra!’” 

Kistemaker quoted student Raven Allison, who said: “Everyone loves The Okra, from little children to adults. The party does not start until The Okra shows up.”

“The Fighting Okra” is already ranked fourth among the all-time list of “weird college mascots,” according to FirstPoint USA, a sports scholarship and university admissions agency, based in Manchester, Mich. 

With a bit of a 2020s makeover, “The Fighting Okra” could leap to the top of the heap, replacing “Sammy the Slug” at the University of California, Santa Cruz, as the weirdest...yet adorable.

Here's Sammy!