OKRA, Part ll

I cook okra like that more than any other way, Ozark. I love my black cast iron skillets and usually give them a good workout.

Olive oil in the pan, add some sweet onion (Candy or Texas Sweet is preferred!), a couple cloves, or more, of smashed garlic. Add the cut up okra, S & P, stirring while cooking to get the oil/flavors on the okra. If you put a lid on it then I'd suggest leaving it half-cocked; it'll hold in the heat but yet not steam the okra. Mine is never soggy or slimey this way either and I tend to cut it crosswise, not lengthwise as in the video. Feel free to cook "too much" cus it is just as good reheated the next day.

Yummy!
Shoe

Our big okra surplus may not happen after all - that stuff sure is heat-sensitive!

A cold front came through a couple of days ago and changed our endless 90+ degree weather to highs in the 70's and lows in the 40's. Nice weather for us, but now my okra's just sitting there. Pods that were a half-inch too small to pick two days ago are still a half-inch too small!

This okra just got into full production a couple of weeks ago, and now cool temps have it stopped already. Ah well - that's gardening. We're supposed to get back into the 80's next week and I expect the okra to start producing again, but at a slower rate than when it was really hot.

Same here. I'm gonna rip mine this weekend. Need the space prepped for the cole crops...

Dang, Ozark, in the 40's? Yikes....that's campfire weather!
And yep, I bet those okra will take off again when the heat comes back. Hope your lows stay higher though. (Weird sentence, wasn't that?) *grin

Linda! NO! Leave those okra plants if you're still in hot weather, they'll keep producing and you can have it all winter if you freeze it. I can't remember if you planted them in your new raised beds or in buckets though. If in the ground set your cole plants around the okra plants. The okra will shade them from the direct sun, helping them to stay a bit cooler. Once the okra quits producing cut the stalks off with a pair of long-handled snippers to open up the air space and sunshine for the little plants.

If you look closely you can see small broccoli/collard plants nestled in amongst corn plants; same idea as mentioned above. It works great !

Shoe


Shoe

Here are the same plants a couple months later:

Shoe

Hey, Shoe!
My okra are planted in eBuckets. I can leave them alone for awhile. Lots of buckets to be had!

Thanks!

I know I keep going on about Stewart's Zeebest - but in that okra variety I think I've found what I've been looking for.

Our cool front slowed okra production down, but I had some to pick today. Zeebest has been out-producing the others by so much I counted pods picked today to compare. I've got the same amount planted of all five varieties, but one best-producing most-branched plant of both Zeebest and Betty's White has been taken out of production because I'm saving seeds. Here's the number of pods picked today from each okra variety:

Stewart's Zeebest - 31
Betty's White - 11
Texas Hill Country Red - 2
Cowhorn - 9
Perkins Long Pod - 16

So, you see why I like Zeebest - a lot. Here's a picture of it today. I've got strings tied around the five branches of the closest plant to remind me not to pick pods off those branches. I'm letting those pods get overgrown so I can save seeds.

Oh wow Ozar k!! My okras does not branch like yours.I got a total of 8 fruits from 4 plants. next year I will plant more. I am jealous!!!!
Belle

"My okra does not branch like yours"
----------------------

Mine doesn't either, except for Stewart's Zeebest. Here's a photo of Cowhorn, Perkins Long Pod, and Texas Hill Country Red, also taken today. These are about like many other varieties of okra I've grown over the years, looking for one I really like and that I'll want to grow over and over.

Well, I've found it.

Lookin' good! I'm impressed with that Zeebest pic! Good going!

Shoe, grateful you took pics.

OK, Shoe - you're officially famous! I added Betty's White Okra to PlantFiles with a description, a picture, and full credit to you and your neighbor Betty Harrison. That's a good okra variety!

Why is it, in PlantFiles, when a vegetable (like okra) isn't common enough to have its own section and you have to search for it by name, the results come out un-alphabetized? Then you have to scroll through the pages to find it - but Betty's White is there now.

Here's the picture I posted of Betty's White end-of-season overgrown pods being saved on one plant for seeds. The moderators have to look at pictures, so this one hasn't appeared yet. I should end up with enough Betty's White seeds to share with some folks here.

Cool! Nice pic ya got there! I'll be sure to add to it, too.

Good goin'!
Shoe.

Nice, Ozark!

And, I knew him before he was famous!

Hey guys,

I just joined in, I am a Certified Organic farmer. I love reading this topic! I never knew there was so much interest in growing okra. I have been developing my on own strain of bush type okra from a parent seed of Clemson Spineless, for the past seven years. I usually plant eight rows of okra about 150 feet long on 12 inch centers.

Last year, I harvested 1,100 pounds for market. This year was tough, because of the drought and 63 days of weather over 100 degrees, but I managed to grow a few plants, that bore as many as 60 or 70 branches and as many crowns. I have one okra plant with 46 pods that are nearly ready for seed production. I have another plant that has the potential of producing 300 pods for harvest this year.

I would like to hear from you, if this is abnormal.

fourteenmilecreek - you bet I'm interested. That's a lot of okra you're growing!

From what I've read recently you're on the right track in saving okra seeds from plants with the most branches. I've been going on here about how productive the Stewart's Zeebest is that I've grown for the first time this year. I read that Stewart's Zeebest was developed over many years by a couple in Houston named Stewart (obviously), both now deceased. They started with a variety called Louisiana Emerald Green and kept saving seeds from the plants with the most branches to develop Zeebest. Since okra bears pods on the growth crown of every branch, then more branches produce more okra!

The article I read about Zeebest cautioned that multi-branching is a recessive characteristic in okra. It wants to go back to a single stem or close to it, so it's important to save seeds from plants with the most branches to keep that going. I'm doing that now, but my bushiest Zeebest plant only has 5 branches, not 60 or 70 as you describe. Wow.

I'm surprised that you're putting the plants only 12" apart, though. I planted my bushy Zeebest okra about 20" apart this year, and that proved to be far too close - I'll plant them at least 3' apart in the rows next year. You said you only managed to grow a few plants because of the drought this year. I wonder if losing some plants allowed your surviving ones more room, causing them to grow so many branches. What do you think?

Wow!! 50-70 branches!!! I would love to have them in my garden !! I remember the farm I went to pick okra they were dwarf with tons of branches with long green fruits.


We have almost 1/2 acre lots here in the court and only 2 has veggie gardens. Some does not bother even with composting. I find time to tend to my garden.

Ozark,
Remember me mentioning about volunteering at our church food pantry? A lot of our parishioners donated fresh produce.Also after hurricane Irene Walmart donated few boxes of bell pepper. Maybe they realized what a waste to just dump it. That was not repeated anymore.

Happy Fall gardening!!!
Belle

I have always planted cow horn okra from seed that has been saved for at least 65 years. This is the second year it has not done well. I am switching to an okra that has no name. A friend gave me the seed. His mother saved the seed as long as he can remember. After she died, he found a jar of the seed in her freezer and has been saving seed ever since, about the last twenty years. The okra is short, only getting about three or four feed high but it really branchs out and bears a lot of pods to the plant.

About that Stewart's Zeebest okra - again. Beside all its other good qualities, now I'm real impressed by the way it extends the okra harvest season. We've had some cold weather here - nights in the 40's and days in the 50's, and that shut okra production down. Now we're having warmer days but the nights are still cool, and I hadn't picked okra for four days. I just picked it and here's the comparison while I remember - this is with an equal amount planted of each variety:

Stewart's Zeebest - 39 pods
Betty's White - 12
Texas Hill Country Red - zero
Cowhorn - 7
Perkins Long Pod - 14

So you can see what I'll be planting next year - a short row of Betty's White because it's a good and unavailable heirloom, and a WHOLE BUNCH of Zeebest!

We've got plenty of okra in the freezer now, but I just finished off another pint jar of pickled okra last night. I love those things, but the 15 pints I've got canned are hardly enough to see me through the off-season. I just realized that the okra I picked today is enough to make two more pints of pickles, but I'm not going to fire up the canner to can two pints. That's OK, I'll make a quart of refrigerator pickles out of them with no boiling. Then I can eat those fairly soon and take the pressure off the jars I've canned. Woo-hoo, more pickled okra!

Great news on the okra variety comparisons, Ozark. Thanks!

"but I'm not going to fire up the canner to can two pints."

What I've done is put one (or two) jars in a small deep pot, similar to a tall skinny spagetti cooker. It doesn't take any time at all to heat up that little amount of water, can for a few minutes, then you're done with it. No muss, no fuss.

Shoe

Thanks for all your Okra's stories.
I have ordered alreadu Stewart's Zeebest seeds for next season.

drthor - Zeebest ought to do well where you are. It was developed in the Houston area, so you're a lot closer to where it came from than I am. Next year I'm going to put the Stewart's Zeebest plants 3 feet apart, or maybe even 4 feet - I think they'll branch out a lot better if they're less crowded.

I'm not satisfied with planting okra seeds directly into the ground. They're kind of hard to get started and this spring we had a cold spell, the okra came up real spotty, and I had to re-plant some. I think next time I'll soak the seeds overnight and start them indoors - not with the idea of getting them out early but just to get them all up. I know okra transplants OK because I've often moved seedlings around in the rows to fill gaps. I'll aim to have 2" to 3" seedlings by mid-May, then plant 'em where I want 'em.

Shoe, that's a great idea about canning just a couple of jars using a big pot. I'll do it, and I'll throw some canning-lid bands in the bottom of the pot so the jars don't sit directly on the bottom. Thanks!

I'm with you, Ozark. I am better at transplanting okra from cell packs or 4" pots. They do just fine with transplanting. They sure can try your patience when sowed directly, can't they?

"I'll do it, and I'll throw some canning-lid bands in the bottom of the pot so the jars don't sit directly on the bottom."

I've folded over a kitchen towel/tea towel or the like and place in the bottom of the pot. They'll want to float until they get fully wet but after that they work well, especially once the jar is on it, or jars.

Shoe (up too late again!) :>)

Thanks Ozark,
I did also sedd them indoor.
They will never grow outdoor because I have moster PILL BUGS that eat anyhting so small.
I cannot wait for next year. Thanks again for sharing

Shoe,
How much sleep do you get? Belle

Hah! Belle, for several weeks now I've been a bona fide night owl. I get quite a few things done but I suffer the next day from it. Too many late nights catch up to me at some point.

I need to grow some sleeping herbs, eh? :>)

Shoe

I have to have 8 hours sleep otherwise I can not function!!! I wake up at 4:30 AM and takes naps.Thank God I do not have problem sleeping!!!

Belle

I wish I could sleep during the day. Only if I'm totally exhausted or sick.....

I can sleep in a matter of minutes. One time I had company and i told them I have to sleep for 5 minutes and I doze off. In 5 minutes i woke up renenewed!!!

Belle

Sleep on demand??? Wow!

Yes and I am very lucky!!!

Newbie here When do I pot up or plant? My seedlings are 4 to 6 inches and very leggy to me. zone 10b so always hot. I am going to put them in a home made EB.

Ment to ask how deep do I plant? Up the stem like a Tomato?

There are now tons of okras in the market but some how they are very pricey.

Belle

At the Food Bank Garden in Winston-Salem, NC we haveg grown over 300 lbs of okra this year, all from seeds (Clemson Spineless). The crop produces continuously from June and is still producing. Yesterday we harvested about 3 lbs. so it is slowing down. I would strongly recommend growing from seeds. One hint I learned here: as the okra gets taller, cut out the top to about 4 ' even if there are flowers. This will make the plant more vigorous and grow from the bottom.

Has anyone tried Okra Lee seeds in an Earthbos?

I don't think I would ever grow an okra plant in my Earthbox. The plants develop huge, deep, root systems, and can get quite tall and top-heavy. Even if the Earthbox base would be stable enough to keep them from tumbling over, I'd not be satisfied with the depth for the roots to grow properly, as the plant would like to do.

I currently have 4 okra plants growing in free-draining, 5-gallon buckets, and I have planted them in 5-gallon eBuckets (designed with a self-watering reservoir, like an Earthbox). They did very, very well. There's more depth available in the Buckets, IMHO (in my humble opinion...)

I could be wrong here, but, I'm speaking from my own experience. In this case, deeper is better.

Linda

Thanks Linda

OK, I finally found ONE negative thing about Stewart's Zeebest Okra. I can't get the old plants out of the ground!

We've had a couple of hard freezes and I'm clearing out my garden. I've been pulling 7-foot tomato plants and everything else up by the roots, no problem. But the Stewart's Zeebest plants aren't coming up - no way.

I've taken clippers and trimmed them down to stumps, and now I'll get the tractor out and scoop the stumps out with the bucket - but I've NEVER had to do that with any annual garden plant, ever. These were some real impressive, and productive, multi-branched okra "trees" and I'm sure looking forward to growing a lot more of that variety next year!

oh noooooo
It is really funny thought !

Ozark!
Thanks for the warning!!!!