Okra

[Mr_Yan]

Ok so there's a lot of southerns on here and you'll have to excuse this question. Let me preface it like this I'm from the north. Where I grew up you had to drive south to cross into Canada. If there was change in my pocket there was a very high likelihood some was Canadian.

What is the deal with okra? How do you eat it? What do you do with it? Is it even worth putting in a garden?

Everything I know about it is from my mom - slimy, sticky, and sometimes it's used to thicken gumbo but why not just use a roux to do that.

 

[w_r_ranch]

Mr_Yan, it goes without saying that there is no quicker way to identify yourself as a yankee than to question okra (or sweet potato pie, for that matter), LOL!!!

Okra has its own unique, earthy taste. It is great fried, pickled with your favorite hot pepper or even cooked with stewed tomatoes & field peas. Heck we even like to munch on raw okra (us rednecks will eat anything) almost as much as we eat it in gumbo. It is very good for you too!!!

I have 24 - 4' plants in the garden right now... "Is it worth it???" Any southerner will say "Absolutely!!!". It is easy to grow, loves the heat & is about $4 a pound in most grocery stores if you have to buy it... Having said all that, okra may not grow where you are located at, as it is not hot enough...

BTW, cooking them whole with their caps left intact and not overcooking prevents the "slime", that you refer to...

 

[finkikin]

Okra is awesome!! My plants are about the same size as WR's and produce everyday. We like to fry them suckers up! As far as what to eat them with, anything! They are even a good snack when your in the garden and want something to munch on while you work. Here is a picture of a big one, I must have missed this one because I usually don't let them get this big.

 

[w_r_ranch]

Yep that top definitely got away from you. I 'missed' a few myself, so they drying out & will serve a seed for next year.

 

[w_r_ranch]

Went down to the garden & picked some more... It looks like a lot more in a few days as there are flowers everywhere, but for today's harvest I decided on an old standby...

Stewed Tomatoes & Okra

 

[Mr_Yan]

Well this summer would have been a really bad year to try okra in a garden up here. In the last three weeks we've struggled to hit 80 F. Heck even the tomatoes are having a tough time for lack of heat. Greens are looking good though. I just seeded more lettuce, beets, mustard, chard, turnips, kohlrabi, spinach and carrots in hopes of a fall harvest.

 

[finkikin]

Well this summer would have been a really bad year to try okra in a garden up here. In the last three weeks we've struggled to hit 80 F. Heck even the tomatoes are having a tough time for lack of heat. Greens are looking good though. I just seeded more lettuce, beets, mustard, chard, turnips, kohlrabi, spinach and carrots in hopes of a fall harvest.

Yeah, too cold for Okra in my opinion.

 

[w_r_ranch]

Just picked another big bowl of them. Making a big batch of stewed tomatoes, okra, black eyes & corn... then we will can it for winter time. I expect this batch will make 14-16 pints...