The Whole Okra

[GoDawgs]

You sure are right about worry! It's never worth the aggravation. I'm not really worried about it as I pretty much have all the okra I need in the freezer already. I'd just like to have more fresh okra for a while longer and more to give away to the lady I get eggs from.

[DonDuck]

My plants drooped in the hot sun a couple of weeks ago so I increased the watering time on my soaker hoses. 100 degrees f. today and no drooping. My goal is to keep my beds moist but not wet even in the hottest sun.

[GoDawgs]

We had a buster of a thunderstorm come through last night around midnight and another one at 1am. They left a total of 1.8" in the gauge by this morning and the early afternoon temp was a breezy 93. Whether it was the lower temp or the extra water, the okra looked just fine. Another storm later this afternoon contributed another 0.6".

Don, I think you're right about needing to up the water when it gets up around 98-ish. Maybe they were just needing more water than they were getting considering how hot it was.

[DonDuck]

As a new okra grower, I've been searching for and cooking many okra recipes. I haven't cooked my all time favorite okra dish which is fried okra. I normally avoid fried foods, but my will power is waning and I'm planning on frying some okra soon.


I'm also planning on frying some good bacon for BLT sandwiches. I'm curious if anyone fries okra in bacon fat. It seems like a good idea to combine the taste of two of my favorite foods, but I wonder if there are any downsides to doing it.

[whistech]

I cook okra in the oven that comes out close to fried okra without most of the grease. I cut up the okra and let it set about 10 minutes to get the slime going then I put it in a zip lock bag with enough corn meal to coat the okra, shake the sealed bag well and then okra is then placed in the fridge for at least one hour and up to 2 days to let the corn meal better adhere to the okra. When ready to cook, I spray a cookie sheet with oil, dump the okra on a cookie sheet making sure the okra is spread out in a single layer. I then spray the okra with oil place the okra in the oven at 380 degrees. I cook the okra for about 45 minutes to 1 hour and remove when I see some browning on the okra. To my taste, it turns out really good.

[DonDuck]

Does the cornmeal stick to the sides of the cut okra using only the slime as well as on the cut ends. Your "frying" process sounds really good. When I used to eat a lot of transitional fried okra, I preferred it cooked much more brown than fried okra served in restaurants.


Since I am only trying different okra dishes to find out which recipes I like best, I made a baked okra dish the other night which I thought was very good. The recipe required okra cut as if it would be fried, cherry tomatoes cut in half, and corn. A table spoon of olive oil was added and everything was mixed in a bowl and spread on a cookie sheet. It was cooked at 350 degrees until slightly brown. I believe it cooked for forty five minutes. The okra tasted very much like fried okra without any type of coating.

[b54red]

Originally Posted by GoDawgs

You sure are right about worry! It's never worth the aggravation. I'm not really worried about it as I pretty much have all the okra I need in the freezer already. I'd just like to have more fresh okra for a while longer and more to give away to the lady I get eggs from.

I grow okra nearly every year and nematodes can and do hit them hard sometimes. Usually besides drooping you will see more than normal yellowing of the leaves and slower growth compared to other okra plants that aren't getting hit by RKN. I never know which plants in which bed will get RKN but two things to do that help lessen the damage is to mulch the plants well and keep them fed and watered well. Last year I had no nematode damage on any of my okra plants and so far this year in a different bed no indications of it either. If it happens it happens but usually by the time RKN have done enough damage to slow down the plants we've already gotten all the okra we need for the year.

Bill

[DonDuck]

I've been doing some things with my okra plants that most gardeners probably would not recommend. My plants are Choppee and Bush Cowhorn and well over four feet tall with a lot of branches on both varieties. My plants are producing very well and I am harvesting a large bowl full of okra daily. The growth and foliage is so large, it makes it difficult to see and harvest the okra on the lower branches.


I've always removed lower branches and leaves on upright garden plants like tomatoes to improve air circulation and sunlight penetration. It also makes it easier to locate and harvest low hanging fruit and remove weeds. I've now done the same thing with my okra and it doesn't seem to have a negative effect. It sure improves my ability to locate the okra pods on side branches. I don't remove the branches which are or will produce okra pods.



Some leaves do not produce a producing branch at the node between the leaf stem and the stalk. I've noticed that after I remove some leaves, productive branches start sprouting at the node.


Okra plants are very attractive plants in the garden looking similar to Hibiscus plants with a lot of large blooms every day. I may need to use a chainsaw in the fall to cut some of the plants down. The main stems are getting huge on a few of the Bush Cowhorn plants.I find it amazing that something that large can grow from a single small seed in one summer.


I thought the okra slime is only in the pods. I was wrong. Every part of my plants have slimy sap. I'm wondering if the stalks are removed right after the first frost, dried and ground into powder; would the powder have any nutritional value.

[Zeedman]

Had my first okra harvest today. Okra is obviously old news to most of you at this point... but getting it at all, this far North, took a lot of practice. June was so wet here that I had to start okra as transplants for the first time. I used Jiffy 32's, and thinned to 3 plants per pot. Those triplets were transplanted 18" apart, in two rows 24" apart, over the July 4th weekend. They have begun bearing almost exactly 30 days later! All healthy so far. The variety Pentagreen is the only one that has proven to be reliable here; and having saved 5 generations of seed, they have become well adapted to my soil & climate.


Transplants have worked so well that I may repeat that next year.


Almost 100 plants, the most I've ever grown... which probably sounds crazy to those of you with okra "trees", but they don't get very large here before cold weather puts an end to them. I plan to make a lot of pickled okra, and freeze a lot for the winter.

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by Zeedman

Had my first okra harvest today. Okra is obviously old news to most of you at this point... but getting it at all, this far North, took a lot of practice. June was so wet here that I had to start okra as transplants for the first time. I used Jiffy 32's, and thinned to 3 plants per pot. Those triplets were transplanted 18" apart, in two rows 24" apart, over the July 4th weekend. They have begun bearing almost exactly 30 days later! All healthy so far. The variety Pentagreen is the only one that has proven to be reliable here; and having saved 5 generations of seed, they have become well adapted to my soil & climate.


Transplants have worked so well that I may repeat that next year.


Almost 100 plants, the most I've ever grown... which probably sounds crazy to those of you with okra "trees", but they don't get very large here before cold weather puts an end to them. I plan to make a lot of pickled okra, and freeze a lot for the winter.

Always a warm place in my heart for folks that grow okra in the north.

[habitat_gardener]

I volunteered at a garden where the okra hadn't been picked for a while, and came home with some edible okra and a whole bunch of large pods.

I was wondering if there's anything I can do with the pods! Can they be dehydrated and ground up as a soup thickener, or will they be too woody?

I've heard about drying them for decorations, or slitting them open for the seeds (edible if still white, possibly viable if not).

[GoDawgs]

Originally Posted by habitat_gardener

I volunteered at a garden where the okra hadn't been picked for a while, and came home with some edible okra and a whole bunch of large pods.

I was wondering if there's anything I can do with the pods! Can they be dehydrated and ground up as a soup thickener, or will they be too woody?

I've heard about drying them for decorations, or slitting them open for the seeds (edible if still white, possibly viable if not).

I've seen them dried and sprayed either gold or silver for decorative use, mostly on Christmas wreaths with a garden theme.

[Hensaplenty]

I have an okra Santa that I think is just the cutest.

For examples, just google, "santa okra."

[GoDawgs]

Those Santa okras are *great*! I will have to play with a few.

[Worth1]

They have alligator okra too.