okra. magazine

Feb 28, 2025 | okramagazine.com | Boyce Upholt

There is a kind of folktale in Louisiana: a set of lobsters followed French Canadians exiles, cast from their home in the mid-18th century during the French and Indian War, to arrive in Louisiana. As the lobsters journeyed south, enduring heat and humidity, they shrank from their grand dimensions, creating the diminutive creature we know as the crawfish. [dropcap letter=”T”]he crawfish is an ancient creature, of course, and was a foodstuff long before the first Cajun exiles arrived in the swamps.

Jul 8, 2024 | okramagazine.com | Genie Gaither Jones |J. M. McSpadden

Written by J. M. McSpadden / Photography courtesy Reconnecting RootsQuestions:  In 2023 – three years after a global pandemic, a summer of riots, political division, and unrest not seen since the 1960s – America is left to ask itself questions. How did we get here? What do we think about it? What, if any, of our old values still resonate? Are our ideals still ideal, worthy of our blood, sweat, and tears? When people clamor for fifteen minutes of fame do they care at all about 400 years of struggle?

Jul 8, 2024 | okramagazine.com | Susan Marquez |Genie Gaither Jones

Written by Susan Marquez / Photography by Stephen IronsideAs schoolteachers in California, Scott and Tessa McCormick never dreamed they would one day own a goat farm in Elkins, a small community in northwestern Arkansas. Yet, that’s the path Tessa says God had for them. “We lived in the mountains and loved our life,” says Tessa. The couple has three daughters, Amber, Caily and Emily. They each enjoyed hiking in the mountains, going to the beach, and all that California had to offer.

Jul 8, 2024 | okramagazine.com | Sarah Beth Durst |Genie Gaither Jones

Written by Sarah Durst / Photography Lena SeabornAdditional Photography Courtesy of Sue Ann GoodmanWhen Alabama really quilted, the winters were colder.  That’s not true, though, and you know it, as well as I. Alabama has never been cold. But Alabama did quilt a whole lot more than it does nowadays.  Back then, it was a necessity. Now, quilters do it for pure joy, showmanship, and love of the craft.

Jul 8, 2024 | okramagazine.com | Trudy Haywood Saunders |Genie Gaither Jones

Written by Trudy Haywood Saunders / Photography by Alexandra StoneWhen most women in their early twenties finish college, farming is not usually the career path they have in mind, but to Alexandra Stone of Stone Hollow Farmstead, just outside of Harpersville and less than an hour from Birmingham, Alabama, it made perfect sense. “I naturally gravitated back towards farming and have been deeply rooted in it ever since,” Alexandra says.