Okra

Have mercy 'pon my soul, Folks. It's hotter'n a fire-eaters tonsils out there today, heat index of 100-billion, or sumpin' like that.

Ozark, I've grown Clemson Spineless more years than any other variety. I guess it is because it is so acclimated to this area and was "the" okra for local folks. I may have posted above that I get so much okra that I have to take a break from picking it and will cut the plants down by about half to give me a break, then continue picking again in a few weeks from the new growth.

I grew Emerald two years and it was fairly productive but I often-times like to just "stir fry" okra (in a big black skillet, sweet onions, olive oil) and noticed that the thicker walls of Emerald kept throwing my timing off, making me keep the other foods on simmer while it finished cooking! (My fault, I know!) I will grow Emerald again though as it was fairly productive even considering the smaller plants.

"Baby Bubba" is probably my most hated okra, just in case you're thinking of checking it out. I grew it for my customers who have small gardens or do container gardening. Unfortunately it is the toughest okra I've ever tried to eat; I have no doubt it would jerk the teeth out of a cornfed mule and would be an unkindness to feed it to one.

Perkins Long Pod is a good producer. I put some in fairly late this year but will use that as an excuse to see how production is during the waning/shorter daylight hours of August/Sept/October. :>)

I'll have to look back thru my files and see if I have listed any other varieties and have pics. If so I'll post them.

(Ya'll see what this heat did? Ran me into the air-conditioned shoffice and caused me to rant on.)

Steph, thanks for the compliment/comment on the okra pic..wish I could say I had something to do with it. We've had African heat here this summer and that okra just loves it!

Shoe

Does the white okra taste like "regular" okra (Clemson or Emerald)? Does it have a similar growing habit?

We've had the African summer heat here, too. I think we're on day 12 of 100º+ days with the heat index into the 100-teen range. Fall has got to come some time soon!

OK, an update on my okra situation. The "Clemson Spineless 80" variety I was griping about in my posts above has finally come into good production. It's producing as many pods as Millionaire now, if not more. BUT - it's now 120 days since it was planted!

Clemson Spineless 80 hardly produced at all during about six weeks of midsummer, while Millionaire produced the whole time, and still is. I won't be planting "80" again!

Next year I'll grow about 50 feet of okra again, and I found out this time that takes four regular-size packs of seed. I think I'll plant four different varieties and see how they compare. Clemson Spineless (not "80") should be one, it's the old standby. Shoe says Perkins Long Pod is good, so that's another.

I've grown Millionaire and Cajun Delight now and they're fine, but I'd be open to trying some new varieties. Any suggestions for two others?

Yes, I like Perkins. The pods stay fairly slim and even when long they are nice and tender bearing in mind they need picking regularly. I'll see if I can get a pic sometime today, Ozark.

I recently read of a test/trial for okra varieties and Cajun Jewel won (not Cajun Delight). You may want to consider that one, too.
.

Shoe (off to the daily hustle)

D-Mail me your address Ozark and I'll mail you some seed to the original Cow Horn Okra, if you want to try a few.

The Velvet Green Emerald is STILL going crazy! It's unbelievable and I'm soooooooo tired of okra! It's coming out my ears and my freezer! LOL

"The Velvet Green Emerald is STILL going crazy! It's unbelievable and I'm soooooooo tired of okra! It's coming out my ears and my freezer! LOL"
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Ha, not me! Since sawpalm's tip, above, we've quit breading and frying okra. We started cutting it into 1/2" pieces with olive oil, salt, and black pepper - we found we like it better with black pepper than with cayenne pepper. Then my wife roasts it in the oven at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes - we like it soft and browned a little, and it's still a bit crunchy at 10 minutes.

My wife has a full-size cookie pan, and I can pick half enough okra to fill that pan every two days. So, once every four days we have that cookie pan full - a single layer of okra about 18" x 24". That's a bunch of okra, but we're really enjoying it. I'll try to freeze some for winter, if we can quit eating it all as soon as it's picked. lol

That sounds delicious Ozark!

I can't tell you how many quarts of okra I've frozen. I'm going to be eating okra all winter! LOL

Uh, Steph,
When you pass through Houston in the next few weeks, just lemme know so I can pick up my package of okra on the highway...

Shoe,
Nobody asked this, but, WHAT are you growing your okra in? We've had the same African heat here, but my okra has done absolutely nothing either. What's your garden medium made up of?

Linda

I am sooo jealous steph!! I had to buy more okra to make pickles. My 3 plant had 4 fruits!! Belle

Belle,
Is that better than my ONE plant that had 3 fruits?

Yep - by 1 fruit it is!

I have 3 plants-- 4 fruits!! LOL!!!

My wife has started stir frying the okra in a little olive oil. Does it in the ole black iron skillet. Sounds a lot like yours Ozark. I like it a lot better than breaded and fried.

GymGirl my okra has been slow to get started in this high heat but has finally taken off and is producing like cow horn is supposed to.

We've lost most of our okra plants in the last week or so due to high winds and now torrential rains from Hermine. We still have a couple, so we'll get more okra. Darn! LOL

Does anyone use all that lovely okra to make OKRA gumbo? I'm dying over here!

Wish you lived next door GymGirl. I'd keep you supplied. Getting a couple of gallons every other day. About to run out of folks to give it to.

Linda, if you lived closer, I'd be keeping you stocked!

We need a co-op at the end of the season. Everybody box up their excess and meet on I-10 halfway and swap our stuff...then I'd get my okra and trade out some cabbages and greens!

Ozark, I'm with you on the Clemson Spineless. It hasn't produced worth a diddly in my garden. Last year, with the Cajun Delight, I was picking every two days or so and had okra out my ears. I decided to try the Clemson this year and am very dissappointed. All the fruits are deformed and the ants have taken over. Even as hot as it was here last summer, I had zero problems with ants on the Cajun Delight. I'm going back to the gloves and Cajun Delight, then I might just get me some okra!

Yeah, what you said, "I might just get me some okra!"

sapphire, did you plant the Clemson Spineless 80, which is what Ozark planted, or the standard Clemson Spineless? I've normally gotten huge harvests off the original C. Spineless.

Just curious.

As for ants, you'll find them on any kind of okra depending on the year, what else is available (or not). I don't think they prefer one variety over the next! They aren't as picky as we are! *grin

Shoe

I'm beginning to wonder if there's something going on with the seeds we've been buying and planting lately. Seems like an inordinately large percentage of the growers having conversations this year have had only marginal success with the seeds they planted.

I'm beginning to think it's not just the weather...why does the term "conspiracy theory" and seed companies come to my mind?

Could they have genetically altered the seeds to be less productive for some strange reason? Not trying to be paranoid or anything (not my style), but it sure is squirrely that so many seeds are failing lately...

I don't think it was the 80, just regular ol Clemson Spineless. I had read that it was a pretty good one too, hence the purchase. It was Burpee. Normally I get seed from Johnny's Selected Seed, but I was late this year and got it at the Walmarts. Never doing that again.

As for the ants...well, maybe I'm just looking for another reason to dislike it. It could not possibly be the lack of attention to pesticides...*grin* The ants were responsible for killing my potatoes.

sapphirestar, I think "chocolate covered ants" are in your future! You'd be rich! :>) Plus you'd have a nice "harvest-able" garden!

Shoe

I'm with you Gymgirl. The Squash seeds come to mind immediately. I have planted squash for the past 5 years, & I get big plants, lots of flowers but no fruit. I have tried everything from extra watering,no watering, etc. & nothing helps to bring on the squash. My current plants have never had any female flowers. ONlY Males. So, is it the seed?I am referring to yellow squash. Either growing vegetables is extremely difficult or something is going on. Something seems to be killing our plants. I wonder if this is only happening in Texas? Maybe our soil isn't worth a dorn.

Shoe, I am ROFL. Ants do seem to be the major "crop" in my garden. Now if I could just catch 'em without getting chewed to death in the process! I DO like the irony though. Biting the d*mn ants that would have bit me!

I wasn't allowed to plant squash this year. Not after last year, when everybody I know would slam their door and hide when they saw me approaching with a bag in my hands, when I filled a tabletop in the break room at Lowe's with zucchini free to all takers, and when I was seriously considering looking for cars in the WalMart parking lot with the windows down so I could leave a bag of squash on the seat.

We've still got 2009 squash in our freezer, and I wish it would just go away. When there's a famine in Africa or somewhere, why don't we just send zucchini seeds? lol

Most of my okra plants got blown over during some strong winds a few weeks ago. I finally whacked them all down today, but I left this one. I bet this thing is 7' tall.

Orzark----What brand of Okra do you usually plant? And what month do you plant? You must have the perfect weather for Okra.

Sorry Ozark, I meant Squash.

"Sorry Ozark, I meant Squash."
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I've tried several varieties of zucchini, and they all go nuts in my garden. Last year I only grew six plants and they would have fed 3 or 4 families until they got sick of it. I've been working rich compost into my soil for years and I water with soaker hoses, maybe that's why zucchini grows (too) well for me.

In Okra news, my Clemson Spineless 80 rows are finally producing decently, though I won't plant that variety again.

I barbecued hamburgers and ham-and-pineapple kabobs yesterday. One of our big hickory trees died last winter and I had to cut it down, so I've been barbecuing over hickory-wood coals instead of briquettes. We've got a metal tray with holes in it for the barbecue, so we loaded that with cut-up okra with olive oil, salt, and pepper. I roasted the okra over hickory in a closed barbecue at about 300 degrees for 40 minutes. Now, that was GOOD!

I am starting to think my okra is psychic. I put it on the list of things to purge when I cleaned out the veggie beds this weekend for the fall garden, and wouldn't you know it, the things had a whole meal's worth of okra on them when I went out with the shovel in hand. Sheesh. I'll give them another week or so, but then they're gone!

I picked out my Okra varieties for 2011, and I've received all the seeds now. I'm growing a lot of it, but my wife and I enjoy it a lot. We've quit frying it, and we're cutting it into 1/2" pieces, coating it with olive oil, adding a little seasoning but no breading, and baking it on a cookie sheet in the oven until it turns olive-green with a little light brown on the high spots. I've been reading that Okra has some good vitamins and health benefits, and I think it's good for us when prepared this way. It's GOOD, that's for sure.

I've grown Millionaire and Cajun Delight with good results in the past, but Clemson Spineless 80 was unproductive for me last year. This time, I'll try some other varieties that are new to me and have good reviews.

Cowhorn
Hill Country Heirloom Red
Stewart's Zeebest
Perkins Long Pod

If the Cowhorn is as productive as I expect, we'll have lots and lots of Okra. We can handle that!

My favorite way to prepare okra is to just boil it. I add garlic, a dash of salt, some pepper, and a bay leaf. Let it boil til tender, drain, and top with a dab of butter. It slides right down! LOL

I have some seeds I saved from last year's okra, Emerald Green Velvet, if anyone would like some. Just drop me a d-mail.

Here's a link regarding the nutritional value of okra.

http://www.livestrong.com/article/298986-nutritional-value-of-okra-seeds/

I like okra, but have never tried growing it. Maybe I should seeing as it is 21 percent protein!

It's one of the easiest veggies to grow and it loves the heat!

Ozark,
Take what you do one step further. After the okra's browned, set it aside. Run some sliced up spicy italian or andouie sausage or beef links, etc., chicken wings/legs, short-boned beef stew meat (with the bone), and some chopped up seasoning ham through the broiler and brown all that, too. Put aside. Peel some fresh shrimp and put the meat aside. Boil the shells and the heads until it foams then strain that stock.

Go get yourself a couple boxes of Zatarain's Gumbo Mix/Base (NO RICE!!!). Use 2 cups of the shrimp stock, and 2 cups each Low-Sodium beef and chicken broths to make up the 6 cups of liquid each box of mix calls for. Don't use any water, please.

Chop a TRINITY: onions, bell peppers, celery and sautee in a bit of oil until opaque but not too wilty.

Boil the roux with the beef stew until it's fork tender. Stir frequently, cause it'll stick to the bottom of your pot and burn. Adjust your additional seasonings (taste the roux first, as it tends to be on the salty side -- just some cayenne pepper and onion and garlic powder should be all that's necessary -- oh, yeah, a good splash of Louisiana Red Hot sauce, too!). Adjust the thickness of the gravy as you want with more of the stock(s) til you get a flavor you like. Then add everything else EXCEPT the shrimp. Cook gently until the chicken is done (just short of falling off the bones), and the okra is tender.

Add the shrimp at the last 10 minutes of cooking everything together nicely. Do NOT overcook the shrimp.

Serve over a bed of fluffy white rice, and enjoy...


In the South, we call it "Okra Gumbo"

^^_^^

Gymgirl - Wow, thanks! Two sentences into your post my eyes glazed over, and I called my wife.

My job, you see, is to eat and enjoy the dishes she cooks. How they're made, I have no idea - and if it weren't for her I'd be living on Burger King and Subway meals.

She's thrilled to get your recipe - she's been looking for a good gumbo recipe as we've enjoyed it at restaurants in New Orleans, but as a Brooklyn girl she's lost when it comes to gumbo. That's OK, as I've had the benefit of her being raised with some great Polish dishes, and over the years she's expanded to Italian, Mexican, and good ol' Missouri country cooking too. You ought to taste how she fixes the crappie filets I bring home!

I copied your post into Word, and I've saved the file and printed out a paper copy for her. We'll be trying and enjoying Okra Gumbo as soon as I can get some more Okra raised! Thanks again.