Plant your okra stories here!

Linda, nieghbors picked those tomatoes from seeds. They're out of town. I'll be sure to find out and let you know later. The cherry tomatoes are Sweet-100 from a basket in my backyard.

All of these stories make me miss my okra! However, it's never too late to start some!

"Shoe, I tried cutting mid-season one year and never got it big enough to harvest much again. "

Laurel, hmmm...wonder if it is your higher altitude and cooler nights. Those cool nights will sure 'nuff slow down okra.

Stephanie, come on, give it another go. Pre-germ some seeds to help you get a head start, or "catch up" start(?).

Shoe (dawg-tired and settling for canned clam chowder but evening things out, helping my yin meet my yang, with fresh sliced cukes, tomatoes, and sliced Candy onions smothered in Balsamic vinegar and a pinch of salt. Yum!)

Shoe, my husband was sick for the spring planting season. We're gearing up for fall, so I'll be planting some okrie soon!!

I call him my Watch Frog...

Looks like he's counting sheep. :D

Has anyone ever grown any Eagle Pass okra? Supposed to be short, fat pods with less slime when cooked.

I picked and ate my first home-grown okra this morning. I thinly sliced and pan fried them with a fresh picked tomato and an egg.

"Emerald" seeds were sown April 11th, sprouted May 8th. I didn't make a note of the transplant date, but it was probably around the beginning of June after I pulled the peas - 85 days from setting seed.

HoneybeeNC.......I have had two dishes w/ my okra/tomato's this week, and I have a problem w/ the aftertaste. The flavor of the dishes was good, but the aftertaste ruined it for me. Is there anything I can put in the recipe to get rid of the aftertaste? or is that what okra tastes like?

hornstrider - I wish I could help you, but this is the first okra I have ever grown. And, the first/last time I ever ate okra was in 1967!

Bloom of Jing Orange Okra

That's a pretty bloom drthor. Here is 'Little Lucy' bud;

bariolio, what a great picture of your guard frog!! wonderful!

A word if I may? Bariolo-those ants harvest the stuff off the outside of the okra, yes, but they don't stop there usually, they go after blooms, pods, etc, even bugs that think they are safe, not at first, but they will. 1lisac-look for mole crickets-they and the crawdads used to give my seeds fits, the mole crickets leave a small hole about the size of your thumb just under the ground... I wold have success by sowing twice, or upping my seedcount to 7 per hole and thinning if necessary. You guys trimm the loder leaves off the stalk? It will help production and the plant will be better prepared to survive the water shartages, too. I love my okra small, start a freezer bag of fingerling size, and just add as I harvest. Clemson Spineless are good, but seem to get woody too quick. The white okra was always good, but I like the green velvet one best...The wierd variety of okra is a climbing vine okra, and is edible, needs spiced up, has a mild flavor, and you can pick them up to 8" long and still use them for food...

Thanks, Biscombe! So cool to communicate with people on the other side of the world! Isn't the internet great?!
Kittriana, you can always have a word! I don't have problems with ants this year, although they were in that section of my garden at the beginning of the season. I'd never heard of snipping off the lower leaves to promote okra production but ok, I can do that. They usually turn yellow and drop anyway in my garden.
Hornstrider--send me some of your okra and I'll tell you if I taste a yucky aftertaste! One thing I've learned about people's tastes--they can taste the exact same food differently. That seems like a "duh" idea, but my SIL hates brussel sprouts and evidently tastes something that I don't. Also, my MIL and a brother can taste a bitterness to artificial sweeteners, even a small amount of sucralose or whatever, and I don't. So, maybe you have a "okra yucky aftertaste" gene! Anyone else taste a yuckiness with okra? Not counting the slime-factor. That would be texture... :) Janet

Picked okra seeds (raw or cooked) can sometimes have a sort of "tinny" aftertaste. I have experienced this taste before.

Okra raw tastes like raw green beans to me, tho I don't eat them raw past thumb length, the seeds have more of a acid ness to them as they get older, figured it was to discourage animals from devouring next years babies, but to me disappears with cooking, or by picking young-and I detest the taste of artificial sweeteners, all of em. You can snip the leaves by about half the length of the plant. Here in the south USA, you will see okra plants 10 ft tall and they might have only a crown of leaves, but still be producing. We slow their growth by stopping harvesting, and allowing them to go to seed, but the plant may not cooperate...

ok, I do have a pic from last year, it makes it less painful to harvest as well

I feel much better, now. After being away and not watering for several days, the lower leaves fell off all my okra plants.

There are still these huge pods on them, though. They'll get clipped off this weekend.

Linda

I picked 3 Okras today

Hornstrider, try picking the okra younger, what var are you growing? Diff var do have diff flavors, but the climbing one is more like an eggplant-no flavor but how you season makes all the difference in the world. My favorite fried okra by breading is by using masa harina( ground corn flour) with pepper, salt.

Wow, drthor, your okras looks yummy. Have you a good eggplant dish recipe to share?

Ok, okra, watch out. Janet is coming out with the pruners this evening! I love trimming plants. I think I am a frustrated beautician. Became a "lactitian" instead!!

Bariolo, you make me laugh! Don't give them a 'do' that is floor length to skin head all in one day, but you can take half the leaves today, and in 3 or 4days more snip em again, hehehe

Lily_love
I love to slice the eggplants really thin (I normally use one of those mandolin slicers - maybe thinner than 1/8")
I lay the eggplants slices on a colander and sprinkle salt. I keep layiering while I cut and adding salt.
I let the eggplants to rest for 20/30 minutes and after I wash them off. In this way the bitterness and the salt go away.
I grill them and dress with olive oil ... yummy !!

k, hungry now, guess I better go feed myself, whine... chuckle, accustomed to being stoveless most of the time these days...

kittriana, hope you've a good lunch. drthor. Thank you for the eggplant recipe. I may try that some time.

here is EGGPLANT PARMIGIANA, it is very very easy:
http://www.food.com/recipe/easy-eggplant-aubergine-parmigiana-60022

Do you peel your eggplant before you cook or grill it?

When I grill my eggplant I don't peel them, otherwise they will fall apart.
Some of the recipe ask to peel ...
I also blanch them for 3 minutes when I need to freeze them.
I cut them in cubes (keep the peel) and put them in boiling water for 3 minutes and after that in ice cubes.
Let them dry and freeze them in bags.
I use them in the winter to make my sauce for lasagna.

drthor, thanks for the many great recipes. I'm going to be busy with them. Oh yes, tips to freeze them also help.

What's for supper tomorrow. :))

Congrats
Lily_love ... it might be the picture, but your eggplant looks too ripe.
When the eggplant change the skin to a dull color it means that it starts to make seeds.
For a better taste (and not a bitter one) you will need to pick the eggplant sooner.

Thanks drthor, good tip on picking the eggplant. I need to be watchful of my eggplant before it gets too ripe next time. Many thanks.

Lily_love,
Drthor's right about dull eggplants being bitter. You want to pick most veggies (especially apples!!!) when they are bright and shiney.

When I was a true WeightWatcher, I ate so many fresh veggies, I learned by trial and error how to pick the best apples on the planet. My boss used to try to figure out how she always got such sweet apples.

Always notice in the produce department that when they replenish the apple bin, they will move the dull, soft apples toward the bottom and put the ROCK HARD shiney apples toward the top. Those dull apples are the older ones, and, chances are they're mealy to boot, and have lost their sugar...

Go for the HARDEST, SHINIEST apple in the bin!
Go for the SHINIEST eggplant on the vine!
Always weigh your oranges against each other, in opposite hands, and go for the heaviest one with the thinnest skin. The weight lets you know there's a lot of juice inside, and the thin skin means you're getting more fruit and less throwaway!
Pick bananas with at least SOME black spots on them. They're coming into their sweetest ripeness!

So, who's ready for a veggie plate today?

Linda

Thanks Linda. :))

Yeah, my dear departed mom taught me to pick lemons and limes with the thinnest, smooth skin and squeeze them gently to make sure they aren't rock hard. I've always remembered that and get great lemons (assuming the store has some smooth skinned ones). Great advice on fresh and juicy everyone!

You guys have made me very hungreeeee! Good thing I don't like okra. :)

If these "tree okra" seeds come up I will grow them, eat them, and like them dammit!

I am still way behind, more so now being struck down by (gasp) kidney infection. Kid can't get a break.

Good news is that it has rained a lot this week so I won't be looking forward to a lot of dead plants.

This thread was about okra but now that we're talkin' eggplants - what do you think of the "finger" varieties? It's the only one I have - a friend gave it to me. Have never had any.

I am not a fun of the eggplants "finger" varieties. Too many and too little to pick and to look for in the plant.
I love the huge classic eggplant (my favorite is "DUSKY")

Well, you know what that means?? We need an EGGPLANT THREAD!! Yea for eggplant!! See new eggplant thread in vegetable gardening...