Heres my bean and okra lineup..

[epiphanista]

Okay, I've grown lots of things, but never okra, and I did not know it got so hugerrific!!! Zounds!

I do love it - Greeks call it 'bamyes' and often stew it in with tomatoes (of course) and chicken or rabbit, yummmm.

My favorite bush bean is Baguette, which is a very thin thin snap bean. SSE has it if your catalog has come!

For pole beans I like the romano styles best. I wish I knew what we grew when I was a kid, we just called them "romano" which was probably the flat broad style, not the actual name.

~Thalia

[Granny]

Bush beans - we put in Provider last year in mid-late July in Vermont. We ate beans every day for all of September and most of October and had so many extra I froze enough to last until two weeks ago. Beans so good they turned the kid who has never let a single green bean pass her lips into a bean lover, no less. One packet, one row, no attention at all other than to pick them. And I did not inoculate them either. Yes, we're growing them again. High Mowing Seeds here in Vermont has them (including in bulk), don't know who all else.

[gssgarden]

Ruth, about how many Okra do you get off one plant? Is it a continuous crop? Kinda like a pepper plant?

Thanks

Greg

[gardengalrn]

Ruth and Robin, thanks for the tips. A friend of mine loves okra and we have very similar tastes in veggies so I figured I may like it now, depending on how prepared. I think I would like about anything fried but you both answered what I was looking for. Do you cut the okra into pieces before boiling? I also like anything with a sliced fresh tomato Really, is there ANYTHING that a good tomato doesn't go with??
Robin, I started out as a Morse Systems Operator but the school for that was something like 6 months. I got to within a few weeks of graduation and decided that it was the most boring, mind-numbing task one could be asked to do. I fell asleep often on my teletype. I voiced my desire to be out of there and the Air Force decided that I should be in Law Enforcement and sent me to the Philippines. Their idea of the worst job ever, since they had spent a LOT of money on my morse training already. It was supposed to be a punishment, I'm sure, but it turned out that I met my DH of 20 yrs there and had my oldest son over there. Some of the best (and worst) times of my life. Lots of stories about that, let me tell ya. Anyway, in general, my Air Force experience was terrific and what I needed to straighten out my life at the time. Sorry you asked?? LOL

[biermaster]

I usually deep fry them when they are about 3-4 inches long in a corn meal batter. They are great in fresh green beans with some ham hocks.

One of the things that you can do is top the center growth about 6 foot which will cause the lower branches to spread and set on new pods. Makes them more manageable. I also plant them about 2 to 21/2 feet apart. 6 plants are enough for 3 adults in the family as they keep well in the crisper for up to a week.

[shelleybean]

I think okra and tomato are such a great combo. I especially love stewed tomatoes with okra, corn, bacon and some Creole seasoning. YUM!

[Ruth_10]

Originally Posted by gssgarden

Ruth, about how many Okra do you get off one plant? Is it a continuous crop? Kinda like a pepper plant?

Thanks

Greg

Okra is a continuous crop. Once it gets going you need to pick every day to get them at optimum size and tenderness. I had several plants so I would most days get enough from one picking to have enough for a meal. Otherwise I would store them in the refrigerator for a day or two to accumulate enough. It seemed to me that the bush types, which have many branches, produced more (because they had many branches). The single stem types that get really tall might yield 1-3 per day.