Re: Friday Rookie Topic XI: OKRA!!

Pollinator 7/18/2012, 9:00 pm

Turan wrote:
O Southerners, is okra a crop that really starts going when it is too hot for tomatoes and beans and such?

I think okra would produce in hell. It's the most heat tolerant (or heat loving) veggie I know.

cherriesjubilee 7/19/2012, 8:22 pm

An acquaintance in Dallas has said his okra is doing terrible this year. He's said only two have come up...

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I'm glad I'm not the only one! My okra is not doing that great yet. I planted it two months ago.

The beginning of this thread is absolutely correct. Okra seeds do not keep well. Someone gave me some pods of the burgundy okra and very few seeds germinated.

However, I used the little I had, plus some store-bought to do a stir-fry, like this:

Sliced up a little yellow squash. Sliced the okra. Heated one tablespoon of coconut oil in a skillet. Dredged the okra and squash in quinoa flour (I don't eat wheat or corn). Browned pieces in the oil.

Fantastic way to do it! No slimy quality, and the quinoa flour made it taste so good.

**Turan** 7/22/2012, 9:21 pm

Thanks, ya'all. I am thinking then that to really get okra here I would need a greenhouse in the greenhouse.

**camprn** 7/22/2012, 9:25 pm

All you okra growers out there... does okra need a lot of water? or not so much? I'm going back to the original post to double check but I thought I would ask. Very Happy

elliephant 7/23/2012, 9:20 am

Not so much. It was the only thing that kept producing when I stopped watering last summer in anticipation of a move. But it is producing more this summer with regular watering.

littlejo 7/23/2012, 7:53 pm

Turan wrote:Thanks, ya'all. I am thinking then that to really get okra here I would need a greenhouse in the greenhouse.

You might try putting down some black plastic to heat the soil, then, with some clear plastic and some sort of poles, make a sort of tee-pee over the plant. If you try this, leave the top open and this will let the bugs/bees in and the excess heat out.
This can be done for sweet potatoes too.
Jo

**Turan** 7/26/2012, 12:31 pm

thanks, Jo. I already plant them and tomatoes and squash through black plastic. they are in wall o waters in the greenhouse also. I suspect it needs more elaborate yet inner hot climate sanctum.

Here is my best plant peeking out of its wall o water.

Friday Rookie Topic XI: OKRA!! - Page 3 12-jul22

Nonna.PapaVino 9/5/2012, 11:09 pm

This year, dang nabit, I decided I'd have fresh okra and make some okra pickles. So bought seed, planted in flats, set most out in concrete mixing tubs in the greenhouse and a couple in a new bale bed in the garden. Greenhouse produced first, but only two or three pods per day. So, I saved them up until I finally had enough for a jar of hot okra pickles. And all that here in a summer even cooler than usual for Western Oregon. Might even have a warm enough September to get enough pods for a second jar. Wish me luck. Nonna

**camprn** 6/7/2015, 4:31 pm

Well, the weather has finally warmed up enough for me to transplant into the garden my four okra plants. Looking forward to it. I am ambivalent about the pods and eating them, I really just want the flowers!
What a Face

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