Next to tomatoes, okra is my favorite thing to grow. I love that it will produce til the first frost. Everywhere we’ve lived, except in Texas, okra has been so easy to grow. Here, the pH of the soil is too high and we water with well water that has lime in it so we have to work really hard to grow okra. Okra likes water and since we have had so very little rain since June 3 (not even 1/4 inch in three months!).
I haven’t had a decent okra crop in about five years. This year, we planted before we knew we were moving. I told Vince if it doesn’t work this year, I’m never planting it here again. We did end up having to plant three times. The first time I planted, about 1/3 of it came up so I went back and filled in the empty spots but it just sat there and did nothing so Vince tilled it all under, we added all kinds of nutrients, I sprayed with the foliar iron spray for the first few months and now, we have an amazing okra crop.
Every day I cut about four gallons of okra!
You can see that it’s just full of blooms. It actually should be cut twice a day but that isn’t happening. The okra is producing faster than the freeze dryer can process it so I’m going to have to can some of it. I’ll never complain about too much okra.
montanaclarks says
I like okra but not that much!
Joyce says
I miss my okra. However, I do not miss having to hurry out every evening to cut it…
JustGail says
That’s a lot of okra! I have a few plants (lost about a third of my plants), but need to pick it for a few days before I get enough to fry up. It’s interesting that it likes lots of water, as mine didn’t start doing much until it turned dry and then got hit by derecho and flattened. Maybe it was afraid of what would happen to it next if it didn’t start producing?
Linda B says
I discovered okra when I lived in Texas about 35 years ago. Delicious especially pickled. I wonder if it would grow in Washington State? This year was my first garden. Had so much fun that I am already planning next spring!
Judy Laquidara says
I don’t really know that much about your area but the ground has to be especially warm before you plant. It’s a fast growing plant and produces a ton every day so it would definitely be worth trying a pack or two of seeds.
Linda B says
Thank you. If it likes warm ground, I will probably have to plant in June. Sure sounds delicious!
Judy Laquidara says
If you’ve never tried it, you might want to buy some and try it before planting it. You should be able to find it frozen at the grocery, either breaded to fry or cut without breading and you can cook it down. Not everyone likes it . . it’s a bit different.
Twyla says
Okra is related to cotton and likes hot weather. If I have only a few pods I cut them up and add to fried potatoes.
Nelle Coursey says
I love okra any way you fix it. Fried, boiled, pickled, you name it!