Something Different

[Jane23]

This sounds like my first experiment with growing Okra. I am not from the south and did not grow up anywhere they grew. I read articles and watched a few videos showing these massive plants that were taller than me producing tons of okra.

We had a late start to summer, so I did not expect them to go at all, even though they sprout. To my surprise, they started producing okra even though they were tiny little things. The weather has turned colder now, and while they are sun-loving plants, they are still going. They are only up to about my knees, and I expect to lose them soon.

What I learned this summer about okra is that if you let it grow beyond about three inches, it turns "woody," is difficult to cut, and tastes disgusting. They are terrific for seed saving, but let them dry out and harvest the seeds for further drying. I will be ready to go next year with a larger bed as my husband loves gumbo and jambalaya.

I did save some in the freezer, as they keep so that I can make those meals during the cold days of winter and dream of my spring garden.

 

[meadow]

we both do, but she would probably not like those unless they were chocolate inside.

They are sold with chocolate inside too! At least vendors around the Seattle area have them that way. I like the red bean paste version best though.

 

[meadow]

I did save some in the freezer, as they keep so that I can make those meals during the cold days of winter and dream of my spring garden.

Okra is also wonderful 'breaded' with cornmeal and fried. My mother found a way to bake them that was nearly as good (and healthier), but I've no idea how she managed it. I've never cooked okra myself. I wonder if it would grow in our wet and cool climate?

 

[Jane23]

Meadow
Okra is also wonderful 'breaded' with cornmeal and fried. My mother found a way to bake them that was nearly as good (and healthier), but I've no idea how she managed it. I've never cooked okra myself. I wonder if it would grow in our wet and cool climate?

I am sorry to say meadow, I know almost exactly where you are, and no, it will not grow where you are. The area does not get warm enough as Okra loves 80+ degree temperatures and dry weather. I recommend spinach, kale, romaine, and carrots as the soil is mostly loose and workable.

 

[flowerbug]

bread them and use a oil cooking spray and hit them with that lightly, then bake is my guess. no, i've never tried it.

 

[Jane23]

bread them and use a oil cooking spray and hit them with that lightly, then bake is my guess. no, i've never tried it.

My husband, who is from so far down south that he should be swimming, showed me how to do it "correctly." You bread them in corn meal, then plop them in boiling oil. You don't do them all at once. You do it slowly, one-at-a-time slowly, so you can turn them one by one and get them fully deep fried. It was a unique experience.

 

[digitS']

@Jane23 ,

Does that mean ..

. he doesn't include okra in gumbo? I have read that in New Orleans, okra isn't always in gumbo.

 

[Jane23]

@Jane23 ,

Does that mean.

. he doesn't include okra in gumbo? I have read that in New Orleans, okra isn't always in gumbo.

I add them to the gumbo. I don't think he ever made gumbo from scratch while he lived there. He has and does live a very full life, which has taken him places where gumbo cannot be found.

 

[digitS']

Thinking about the Colorado gardener I mentioned in the "What did you do in the garden" thread, responding to Jane23. She cuts and hangs the entire tomato plant in her garage at the end of the season to ripen green fruit.

What is your best "long keeping" tomato variety?

Yes, I know that there is one called Long Keeper but I have never grown it. What has been in my garden for many years is Thessaloniki. It was absent this year and it may be missed. I mentioned it in this TEG post from several years ago.

BTW, I do miss @lesa. She was so determined to leave her home in upstate NY, retire from her business and leave her garden ... so where does she go? Florida. I hope she is okay.

Steve

 

[Jane23]

I think I will collect the tomatoes I can and try to ripen them inside in an open box. I do not have any fruit handy to help them ripen, but I will paperback the most ripe to encourage them to get going. I bet @lesa misses her garden. I love having one and a neighbor that recently moved. She really misses hers and didn't get the chance to get hers going as she and her husband went back to their home state to bring out their grandson. Hopefully, she can do something next year. I am going to bring her one of my zucchini today.