OKRA, Part llI

We came from here:
►PART I http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1115764/
►PART II http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1182566/

I'm going to grow 2 varieties this year, Emerald Green and Hill Country Red. What is everyone else going to grow??

I'm growing Cowhorn, Red Burgundy, and Clemson Spineless. Still trying to get that bumper crop of okra...

I love okra most specially pickled.

Belle

Stewed okra with shrimp and ham over a steamy bed of white rice. Hot sauce on the side is a must!

You are making my mouth water!! Yes I cook mine with shrimp too sauteed with garlic and onions!! yummy!!!

Belle

As per all the posts I made in last year's okra thread, I'll be growing a BUNCH of Stewart's Zeebest this year. That's a great variety!

We had a nice surprise the other day. I noticed what I thought was a good-size bag of frozen green beans from the garden in the freezer of my garage beer 'fridge. I told my wife about it and said we'd better use them up, as I'll be picking fresh green beans in a couple of months. She got the bag out, and it was OKRA. We thought we'd run out of frozen okra a couple of months ago. So, we had a big bunch of okra roasted with olive oil that evening that I didn't expect. Good!

I've been rationing last year's pickled okra all winter. I've got figured out that I can finish a pint of it every two weeks and it'll last until summer and (hopefully) more fresh okra being picked.

Speaking of pickled okra, what I made last year turned out great but I think I'll try something new. I've been making sauerkraut for a couple of years and it's so good I've become interested in lacto-fermentation. I'm determined to make some natural cucumber pickles this year by growing some little gherkin-type cukes and fermenting them like kraut in a food-grade plastic bucket with a weight on them and some grape leaves added for crispness (lots of recipes and the procedure can be found with a Google search).

Now I'm thinking about including some whole okra pods with the cukes to let them lacto-ferment together and make pickles. I think I'll try that with a small separate batch anyway - it oughta work.

Uh, and you're gonna kitchen-test then post the recipes, right?

This is my first year to try okra (or anything spring/summer from seed). I started my okra, peppers, and tomatoes at the same time in mid February. My 12 plants are about 4 inches tall and very bushy. Hope to get them in the ground first week of May!


-Vaughn

Edited to add: I am growing Cajun Delight

This message was edited Mar 31, 2012 9:25 AM

What's the recipe for roasted okra? I love it boiled smothered with butter! LOL Would like to try something a bit healthier.

We roast whole okra a lot, and eat with tomato, green onions and cilantro.

Belle

"What's the recipe for roasted okra?"
----------------------------

Aha - my job is to raise it and eat it. Hang on while I call the cook.

Mrs. Ozark here! I wash the okra, cut the stem ends off, and cut the pods into bite-size pieces. Coat the pieces with olive oil, add salt, pepper, and a little cayenne pepper if desired. Spread them in a single layer on a cookie sheet lined with foil and roast in the oven at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes. Toward the end I watch them and will end the roasting a little earlier or later than 20 minutes based on appearance. When the pieces each have a little golden brown on them, they're done.

Other veggies may be added to the cookie sheet for roasting of course, but we like our okra straight. lol

Thanks! We'll have to give that a try this summer.

nothing beats okra in a chicken and sausage gumbo! i have a row of 20 Clemson Spineless growing here.

EXCEPT, short-boned beef stew, andouille sausage, shrimp, and ham with that chicken and sausage in that okra gumbo...uh, and that's Bryan Sausage!

LOL!!!

hmmm maybe time to fire up the gumbo pot now. gee thanks alot lol

Noooooooooooooooooooooo, not the gumbo pot, not now -- too HOT!!!

Cain't breathe....'gasping for a-i-r...arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrggggggggggghhhhhhhh....

never too hot for gumbo. hahahaha

Uh, that would be "never too hot for COFFEE..."

that too

Okra has been in the ground for a week and the deer and the bunnies have only eaten half of them so far. Chewed the leaves all the way to the stem but left the flowers. I should probably start more seed if I want to see any okra pods.

-Vaughn

I've had great luck growing clemson spineless in a swampy part of the yard for the past two years. This year I have cajun delight and cowhorn. And they're in five gallon buckets instead of the ground. Not sure how that's going to go. I may have to plant an "emergency row" of the clemson in the swamp. Just in case.

This message was edited Apr 21, 2012 6:21 PM

Im planning on growing Jing Okra and maybe White Okra (never heard of it, somebody gave it to me). I say planning, because up until I read this thread the only way I would eat it is pickled. lol I have also done a quick inventory of seeds and there is no why that everything is going to fit in my one garden. May have to plant in my lower garden too. Tomatoes, peppers and beans are things I have to grow everything else is just for fun and has a much bigger plant out to harvest window.

Why do I have 9 types of basil (I guess those can go in containers), 5 types of Amaranth, 6 types of pumpkin/winter squash, 5 types of cucumbers, 7 types of melons, 7 Inca Berry Plants, tomatillos, ground cherries and Roselle? I was really hoping on down sizing this year. May have to rethink this....LOL

Ilisac,

You mustb have a big garden to be able to plant that many,

Belle

I actually have 2 big gardens but was planning on down sizing this year. I may not sow all the seeds I have. They will still be good next year.

Some of the seeds may get sown later. Ive never had a problem starting many of these much later in the season. The temps are going up and down so much right now, and I can only do so much in a day. It was in the high 40s last night. I just want to get my main stuff planted and my Market Plants done. Then I can relax and think what comes next.

Still cant figure out why/how I got all these seeds. LOL

This message was edited Apr 22, 2012 12:02 PM

I soaked Stewart's Zeebest okra seeds overnight, then started them indoors (where they still are until our weather stabilizes). In my experience, okra doesn't transplant real well but you can get away with it by being careful not to disturb the roots. Last year we had a cool, wet May and I had to replant okra about three times so I'm trying to avoid that this year.

Of the 46 seeds I sowed indoors only 28 came up. Still, if I can raise 28 plants of this variety that produced 5 to 7 pods a day per plant for me last year, that'll be a lot of okra!

I just ordered more seeds. Clemson spineless and some burgundy okra from Baker Creek in bulk. I should still have plenty of time to get some okra.

-Vaughn

I'm putting some Emerald Green & Hill Country Red seeds to soak tonight. I plan on putting them in the ground on Tuesday morning.

Ozark,
The seeds you sent me are sprouting and will be transplanted in few days. The location is not quite ready.

I remember your okra pictures last year and you plants are very bushy and dies not get too tall. Do you pinch the top when they are young?

Belle

Belle, no I never topped the plants but I broke off leaves several times so I could pick.

Stewart's Zeebest makes some real impressive plants with multiple branches. Last year I only had 8 plants in a 12-foot row, and that was 'way too close. This time I'm going to allow 3 feet between plants, and if I could bring myself to space okra that widely they probably ought to be even further apart than that. I'm glad those seeds are sprouting for you. As I said, I only had 28 of 46 seeds come up, so the germination could have been better.

A Stewart's Zeebest picture from 2011:

My Okra has been transplanted outside.

You don't want to pinch the tops or top them because the pods form as the okra grows up on new growth.

I am planting my Okra plants closed together because I remove the bottom older leaves to give them to my DH pets.
In this way they can grow closer.

I plant mine about 2' apart because they get so huge. We trim off the bottom leaves, but only up about 18" from the ground.

I have seedlings still in the IHORT plugs. My plan is to pot them up one time, this evening.

Glad I haven't put them out yet, because the temps keep going up and down here. We're having mornings in the mid-50s. Last season, my plants didn't show anything because of our schizophrenic weather...And, as my weatherman reminded me this morning, we still have 5 months of HEAT ahead...

same here in louisiana, we're getting the easter weather a lil late for this time of year. throwing my sinisus of balance.

This message was edited Apr 24, 2012 6:34 PM

It was 47* this am. 62* at Austin Airport which is a distance from here. It's supposed to warmer then even cooler this weekend. It is helping me out tho because I don't feel like I need to get everything out there right now. The heat loving stuff can wait. Some of the best pumpkins I ever had I planted in August and they were ready just in time for Halloween.. My market tomatillos and Roselle are just sitting there they need hot weather and this isn't cutting it. But each cool day is one less hot day, the way I figure it.

same here. its going to be a miserable summer this year for us.

It is in the 50's here and my okra are sprouting. I planted all of it and if they do not make it I will end up buying seedlings.

Belle