We love okra and it’s good in so many ways. I love the small, tender pods raw with a little salt. I like it sliced and stir fried in a little olive oil. I like it battered and fried. I love it boiled in field peas or black eyed peas. I like it in soups, stews and gumbos. I love it cooked with tomatoes. I like it pickled. I’m not sure there’s any way I don’t like okra.
For some crazy reason, I really struggle with growing okra here. The A&M ag department tells me that it’s because the pH is too high in my soil AND my water. Rain would be so nice for so many reasons but especially for my okra. So, to grow okra, I have to spray it several times per week with a foliar iron spray, which is not cheap and has to be ordered. It’s frustrating on so many fronts but mainly because we just don’t get any rain.
I told Vince I was going to plant my okra late this year and see if that made any difference. Of course, it isn’t going to affect the pH of my soil or water but okra likes warm soil and I thought maybe planting it too early was causing just one more obstacle for it to overcome. I had planned to plant it around mid-May but we had our trip to MO and Vince didn’t get my okra patch ready til last week. I went out there and I said “WHAT?”
Okra Patch
I’m not real sure about Vince’s gardening tactics. Is he brilliant or lazy? He decided to till up just where I’m planting and that way he can run the lawn mower between the rows. OK . . we’ll see how this works but I wasn’t real enthusiastic about it. I’ve never done anything like that before . . first time for everything.
Okra seeds have a really hard outer coating and I like to soak them overnight but last week, I was feeling so badly, I never got around to soaking the okra seeds. Saturday morning, I knew it was getting late enough in the season that I was about to reach the “now or never” stage so, even I went out and did it. I turned the soaker hose on and left it for several hours . . the ground was probably totally saturated. Sunday and Monday . . morning and evening, I did the same thing. Yesterday I turned the water on when I got home from knitting and when I went out to the garden about 5 p.m. I was so surprised to see okra growing! It had sprouted in about 3-1/2 days. I’ve never had okra sprout that fast, even after having soaked the seeds. It has to be a combination of keeping the ground wet and our near 100° temps.
I’m hoping the early germination and sprouting is a good sign for my okra this year!
Helen says
I’ve never had okra! Being from NE Ohio, it’s not something that’s real plentiful here. Some day I may just have to try it.
Joyce says
I love okra too. I generally just roll it in cornmeal and fry it. (that’s how my mom did it) I generally have really good luck with growing it…to the point I have to give a lot away. I always seem to buy varieties which grow to be 6+ feet tall, so it gets difficult to pick by the end of the season. I amazed my grandmother one year with how tall my okra plants were…
Aine says
I live south of y’all, and my problem with okra is that it won’t stop growing! This year I planted Clemson Spineless and Emerald. The seeds I directed seeded did much better , grew faster than the ones started in the greenhouse. Even the plants that are under knee-high are producing. They will get almost 10 feet tall, and the trunks are massive. I use okra to break up the ground for me, the roots will make for easier tilling the next season. I have eggplant planted in the same rows as the okra. Okra shades them and keeps them from getting sun scald. You are surely right, okra likes it hot, so they become the focus here until the Fall and winter plantings.
I’m with you, okra eaten any way is delicious. Sounds as if you need a bumper crop ! Wishing you luck on your okra growing this year.
Judy Laquidara says
I just wrote a long reply to your comment and lost it. Our okra will take off but it’s a struggle to get it going. If we could just get rain but that’s probably pretty hopeless til about September. Vince always says he’s going to cut it with the chainsaw because it’s so thick. I never have started okra seeds. I always plant them directly in the ground. We plant our okra next to where we will plant garlic and since we don’t plant garlic til October, we don’t plant fall plantings in that area so the okra produces til the first frost, usually November. I let some of it go to seed and that’s what we use for the next year’s crop. I plant Clemson Spineless but this year am trying Emerald. I saved enough of last year’s Clemson Spineless seeds for 2019 in case I get the Emerald and Clemson Spineless mixed.
Aine says
Emerald looks like little elf shoes, and I think to us it has a superior flavor, but the Clemson is good eating too, and doesn’t try to kill you when you pick it. I’d like to try some red or purple okra, just for fun. Sometimes a pod will go feral because it’s been growing real close to the stem and hiding out, I wonder if I can spot the red/purple ones quicker. The okra stalk gets so big around my son took them out last year with his ax! Vince’s idea of a chainsaw makes sense.
Like Joyce and her mama’s recipe, I’m going to fry us up some okra dredged in cornmeal tonight. Can hardly wait.
Wanda says
We can’t water works here in our area of we do it won’t grow. I tried emerald last year and love it. The stalk grew about 4 inches around . I did take and break out the top when it was a lot 5 inches tall to make it Bush out and that worked so only grew about 8 foot tall all and produced till the freeze came . We love or a any way also. Guess it is a southern thing.
Pam says
Well, I picked the first 3 pods of Louisiana Green Velvet today. The two of us had 8 pieces each of corn meal breaded okra. So good. I started seeds in a planter outside in April and they went into the ground in early May. Lots of blooms so I am looking forward to larger servings fixed any way.
Twyla Starr says
Okra is of the cotton family so what ever time those farmers out there are planting their cotton then plant your okra. (what a long sentence) It likes hot weather. And I love okra any way you can cook it.
Judy Laquidara says
That is very nice to know because I was afraid I had planted my okra too late but between here and Abilene, they’ve just recently planted their cotton.
Judy says
Grasshoppers always eat most of my plants! I love to bread them and fry them whole, then dip them in remoulade sauce. It’s like Cajun chips and salsa, LOL!
We love pickled okra, too. After we finish a jar, I save the juice, and drop some boiled eggs in it. Sometimes I have to save the juice from more than one jar, but that’s OK. Put the eggs in there and refrigerate for about 2 weeks, shaking it now and then to stir up the seasonings – and you’ve got delicious pickled eggs!