Beginner Gardening: developing a new strain of crop - food plants, 1 by fourteenmilecreek

fourteenmilecreek wrote:
Okra is probably the very best beginner food crop there is! It is hardy, drought -heat & tolerant, disease resistant, insects have little effect on it, and it is highly prized by your neighbors, if you have enough to share! I am a Certified Organic Farmer who has spent the last seven years, developing a new strain of crop - food plants. Okra is kind of my specialty. I plant about 1,500 seeds per year. I grow it fresh for a local health food store, the Farmers' Market, and deliver about 50 to 100 pounds per week to a local grocery store.

When planting okra, it is best to soak the seeds over-night. The next morning, lay out a row and plant your soaked seeds about every 9" to 12" inches. OSU says "Never plant a seed deeper than 3 times the diameter of the seed", but to avoid birds digging mine up, I plant about 3/4" to 1" inch deep. Make the rows about 3' feet apart, so the leaves don't rub your arms while walking between the rows when they are bigger... Some people are allergic to the itchy spines! I say, "Just wear a long sleeve shirt and use gloves when cutting the pods". I plant mine about the 1st of May (it is very frost sensitive). Once the plants are established, keep them weeded. In about 2 months, the beautiful yellow blooms will greet you at 7:00am every morning!

It only takes four days for the 3" to 4" inch okra pods to form after blooming, so be ready! They are best if picked when 3" or 4" inches long, and are great for frying, pickling, making soups, gumbo, or for boiling. We even salt & pepper them raw, right after slicing, while still gooey, then dehydrate them, and eat like popcorn. It's a great healthy snack when watching a movie.

The only problem with okra is that it takes so many plants to make enough pods for a meal. You generally get only one or two pods per plant, but I've developed a new strain of Clemson Spineless that bears anywhere from one to forty-one pods per day! This greatly alleviates the need for so much garden space. I'm working right now on seed increase of this new strain to be released in Spring of 2013.

To check out my progress on this endeavor, or to view more photos, and read new research information, create a Google search by typing, or pasting in: Project developing a new strain of crop - food plants

My new strain of certified organic okra is called 'Heavy Hitter' and has out performed, the existing variety 'Zee Best'. My new strain was developed from the old Clemson Spineless line and has the same characteristic, tender pods, that make Clemson Spineless so desirable for pickling and frying. As seen in the photo, I have successfully grown plants of this new strain with over 60 branches, bearing over 200 pods in one season, and exhibiting trunks over 8" inches in circumference. You can barely see my 13 year old Son standing behind the plant. (It's that big). Because of the extensive root system, we were unable to pull these huge plants by hand in Winter. So we had to rig up a hoist to pull the old plants out of the rows, in order to do our Spring plowing.

The neighbors love it! As shown in the photograph, you can pick a full meal four a family of four from one bush!

God has really blessed us!