Plant your okra stories here!

Ha ha ha - does that mean we are finished extolling the virtues of okra?

Alas, my okra is sitting and doing nothing. It's been in the nineties during the day, but down in the 50's at night (typical high desert summer; rather cool this year, actually). Do you think the night time temps are causing them to sulk? They got to about 2 inches tall and haven't done a thing more in two weeks. They don't look sad or unhealthy - they just look like they are sitting. I planted 5 different kinds, and none of them are doing anything. I tried to mulch them, but our 50MPH winds keep blowing the mulch away. Mine last year barely got to a foot tall, but I thought that was because they were planted as an experiment on the edge of the garden - and it is still mostly pure sand there.

It's the cool temp. that keeps them status quote. They will take off as temp. warm up some. Are you feeding them? Sounds as if the soil is very lean, nutrients helps besides photosynthesis. My neighbors and I join force and raise veggies garden. He incorporated fertilizer directly in the ground before he sowed the seeds.

http://www.harvestwizard.com/2009/03/how_to_grow_okra.html

I just discovered this nice website (oh, no, not another one...) :)

My tomatoes hate it when there is a 40*F temperature swing from 95*F during the day to 55*F at night. I suppose I've now found another veggie that doesn't like the high desert. :-) BTW, I planted the Okra in the best section of the garden - pure sand that has been amended with chickie-poo composted pine shavings for 3 years. It almost smells like dirt over there! Thanks for the info, everyone.

Just some feedback on the practice of trimming off the lower okra leaves to force energy to the okra pods -- IT WORKS!

I used my neighbor as a friendly guinea pig. She had a lovely stand of lush okra plants, but complained of no fruit. So, I promptly got her pruners and trimmed off quite a few of the lower leaves. Enough to see the stems of each plant.

Fast forward two weeks. I went over yesterday morning, and she remarked that I had performed a "miracle," cause she was now picking okra pods TWICE a day!

I've since trimmed my leaves, too. Actually, they trimmed themselves, cause they didn't get watered for 5 days, and ALL the bottom leaves fell off...BUT, they have pods all over them now! More bare, naked ladies!

Linda

Impressive! If my seeds sprout and I grow 'em for fall, I'll remember this! :)

Linda, that sounds like a case of using 'energy' where it's needed. Food for thought. :))

I agree. I have trimmed the bottom larger leaves too.
I have started to harvest more pods but not twice a day yet ... but I hope soon.
My vegetable garden is neigbor with my husband pet area. So I trew the okra leaves to the tortoises ... and the ate them all !!! yeah !!
No worries ... they are just little rescue tortoises .. small and not able to go up to my okra plants ... or any of my other vegetables ... sometimes I find them looking up at the delicious tomato hanging on their side .. yummy ... and I know that my DH throws any kind of my veggies to the when I am out of town ... but it is ok.
So I will keep trimming bottom Okra leaves.

Monday was my day to pick veggies from our 'community garden'. Where 3 families in our neighborhood got together and raised enough veggies for us to share. 1 family provided the land, the other expertise, and we all chipped in with the labor. Viola! Good harvest all season long. I'm so grateful of good neighbors that work together.

I like the story about feeding the tortoise(s) okra leaves. How many tortoises does your DH have? I have seen one tortoise in my back yard that seemed real friendly since he crawled right up to my feet and looked up at me, but since all of my vegetables are in raised beds he (she) can't get to them. Do tortoises eat some of the insect pests in the garden? I thought that they would be beneficial to a garden. I have a lot of gecko lizards in my yard this year and I know that they eat insects.

hrp50, my DH has more tortoises I can count. He loves them. We just got 2 new one last week from SPCA and my heart just broke when I saw them. Their shell is all broken down ... their owner kept them in the water thinking that they were turtles !!! so the calcium in the water ate their shell away ... OMG !!
Turtle = need water
Tortoises = need soil or land !! they might float in water, but drawn in deep water ...
So we will try to take a better care and maybe in 2-3 years their shell will grow a little more.
I dunno if they eat insects ... but they poop a lot and love my Hybiscus flowers and Okra leaves.

Yikes, tortoises aren't as beneficial as I thought. They eat about any vegetable (tomatoes, strawberries, blueberries, lettuce, spinach, etc)) and occasionally they will eat earthworms or live crickets for the protein. Maybe I will invite my backyard tortoise to leave. Drthor, would you DH like to adopt another tortoise if I can catch mine?

What a wonderful problem to have. I love tortugas. Wish I could volunteer to adopt, but I burned out in animal rescue years ago. I adopted too many of everything then. Now just waiting for 'em to die off. Sounds bad, but I am not sure I will allow myself to get attached to more critters.

Maybe just okra!

Good luck with the tortugas. Shame about their shells, but sounds like you will give them a loving, caring home. Thanks for all you and your DH do for the animals, Drthor. :)

A.

Great harvest, Lily_love! But you can keep the habeneros! I had a very bad experience with salsa at a restaurant once!!
Kmom, that must be frustrating! We all seem to have weather issues. Maybe we should all move to Hawaii!!
I had a blast trimming my okra! Here it is.

bariolio - nice legs!!!

LOL Amanda. Nice legs those are! Quite tall! Sorry Bariolio, about the bad experience with the salsa at a restaurant. I must admit, I can tolerate hot peppers and perhaps can be a champion at a contest. lol

Guys I can only picture seeing the tortoises going at our tomotoes and such. Must be cute as can be. drthor, hope the critters recover.

Janet,
Those are gorgeous "Bare, Naked Ladies!" Please report on the production changes as you observe them!

Linda

Monday is my day at the community garden. My neighbors have been on vacation. So one of our 3 families missed out on harvesting their share. They're home now, so I cut and shared some with them. This is but half of what all I harvested this morning. Yummm! (pic. to come next).

1/2 of what all I harvested this morning. The two rows okra above are plentiful for 3 families. I may even have some extra to freeze for the winter. Yes!!!

Lily_love,
How big is your shared garden? Three families, huh?

Yes, 3 families and possibly can feed more. Gymgirl, it's about 30' x 40'. We've okras, tomatoes, various type of peppers. None of the neighbor likes it hot, but some do. ^_^

I planted some pumpkins too for the fun of it.

last week I was gone and nobody was taking care of my veggies.
aaahhhh Look at all of these okra pods ... they are 15" long !!! oh well ... I will make soup

Now, this is today. Finally many pods to be able to make a meal.

Ok,
I have an okra report! Since cutting those leaves off like I suggested to ya'll, my okra has been revving up! Been picking an average of 5-10 pods each evening. And, they grow even faster after I water them. Like overnight. Been picking them when they're no more than 4-5" long.

Also, a taste report. I picked a couple that were about 3" long, just to snack on, raw. Clemson spineless with the customary "okra" taste. Then, I tried my very first Red Burgundy. It was actually SWEET! A total surprise I didn't suspect!

Question. Several of the okra pods had little creamy bumps on them. Anyone know what they are, and if they affect the pods? Please lmk. I just nibbled around those.

"Oh no, they 're not veggies they're Golden Sunrise Hibiscus!" I lied, but the *)(&& HOA is driving me insane. Theyre really okras that I have planted with my flowers.

Hah! Smart thinking, yehudith! And funny, too.

Good going!

Shoe

I made some stewed okra and tomatoes last week, as I had an over-abundance of both. My first time trying that recipe, omg..it was good! And not slimy. It is the recipe with the 4 oz hot sausage in it.

Uh, Moxie, would you mind posting the recipe here? Thanks!

I looked at some of the okra yesterday evening, and they were about 3" long, so I didn't cut them. I looked at them this morning, and they're almost past 5"!!!!!!!!!!!

I need that recipe....

Can I post the URL?

http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/stewed_okra_tomatoes.html


I used just the ground sausage, fried up like ground beef crumbles. And just water, not juice. The garden tomatoes had plenty of liquid juiciness.

Yumm, looks good to me. I love every ingredient in there!
Thanks for posting that, moxie.

I'd have to make a huge pot of it though, okra is coming in like gang busters here. Yay!

Shoe

Oh...horseshoe..it is gooood!! And I am a picky eater..sorta. But, I tried it, because I love fried okra, and okra in tru creole/cajun gumbo. I know it can be good stuff...I just don't want to eat every version of okra out there. Hmmm....might do for some more internet recipe searches.

yehudith - funny!

Moxie - yummy! :)

My okra did not germinate therefore I did not pursue it beyond the initial attempt, but I am enjoying your stories just as much.

A.

This morning's harvest.

Twenty-two okra pods and twenty "Fooled You" jalapenos.


This message was edited Aug 5, 2011 9:21 AM

Linda - yum! Love the peppers. :D

Makin' me jealous. I'm still struggling with mine.

A.

Time to do some cooking, lol

Lily's got it goin' ON!!!

Yes, DD is coming home for a weekend visit. I'm going to cook her fav. talapia dish with tomatoes sauce, okra as a side dish, or just blended it in with talapia dish. :)) I used to cook lot of catfish. Found Talapia is a great substitute. :))

Uh, post that recipe, too. I've got a whole bag of Tilapia filets in my freezer...