Growing up in Louisiana, we ate a lot of "okrie." And we ate it cooked in various ways. Of course, my favorite way to eat okra is to cut it up, roll it in cornmeal and deep fry it. Eaten together with cornbread, purple hull peas, baby limas and fresh, sliced tomatoes, you'll have a really great meal.
When I was a boy, my mom would also throw a few small okra pods into the lima beans and purple hull peas as they were finishing cooking. I liked them this way as long as they didn't cook too long and get too soft. Okra also goes well in Southern soup where you combine tomatoes, potatoes, lima beans, whole-kernel corn and purple hull peas. Place the ingredients in a large pot, add plenty of water and simmer slowly for several hours. Eat this with corn bread, and you will be a happy camper.
Okra is used in Cajun cuisine such as gumbo and other creole dishes. I love gumbo with hot sausage, chicken, rice, shrimp and all the Cajun seasonings.
Some folks pickle okra, which is an acceptable way to use it, I reckon -- just don't ask me to eat it.
Nutritionally speaking, okra is a good source of fiber as well as minerals such as iron, calcium, manganese and magnesium. On the vitamin front, okra is rich in B-complex vitamins and vitamin K. We need vitamin K to help keep our arteries open and our bones strong. Vitamin K1 is involved in the clotting process and vitamin K2 helps remove calcium from our blood stream and return it to our bones. Okra is a source of both vitamins K1 and K2. It also contains some vitamin C and A.
Growing okra is relatively easy if you have a long enough growing season, which we certainly do in Northwest Arkansas. I prefer to grow Clemson Spineless, but there are many varieties to choose from. Since okra seeds are extremely hard, it works best to soak them in warm water for at least 24 hours before planting. I usually soak mine for a couple of days. Okra is a warm-season crop so the soil needs to be fairly warm before planting. I don't get into a rush to plant okra in the spring, usually waiting until on into May sometime when it looks like there will be an extended period of warm weather.
Okra is a heavy feeder and prefers a rich, loamy soil. It handles heat well and will thrive even in a dry year.
Okra is a member of the hibiscus family, so the plants produce a beautiful blossom. The okra pods appear soon afterward and need to be harvested when they are still tender, approximately 2 to 3 inches long. If okra pods get too big, they will be tough and cooking will not change that. As the okra plants grow and as you harvest the pods, the lower leaves can be removed. It is best to remove these leafy limbs close to the main trunk, but you want to avoid removing any growth that is coming on between the leaf you are removing and the trunk. This little leaf, if left on the plant, will grow larger and will eventually produce more fruiting spurs.
Later, when the okra plant has grown so tall it is difficult to harvest the pods, the main stalk can be cut off so that the remaining plant is about 3-feet tall. This will stop any production for a couple of weeks, but the plant will branch out and you may very well have more of a harvest after the pruning than you did before. This sort of pruning needs to be done in mid-summer, but only if your plants need it.
Okra does have some pests you may need to deal with. Cutworms can attack when the plants are young. Ants are attracted to the blossoms, which doesn't seem to hurt them too much unless they are fire ants, which will destroy the blossom. Stink bugs are also attracted to the plants, and you need to be on the lookout for aphids on the underside of plants. I use Safer's Insecticidal Soap for the aphids and Pyrethrin for the stink bugs and ants. I usually have enough plants to withstand losing one or two to cutworms. If a cutworm does attack, I try to find and kill it so it doesn't do any more damage.
Okra is a prolific producer and will continue to produce until frost if you keep the pods harvested. If you desire to save seed from your plants, all you have to do is to let a pod stay on the plant until it is dry. This pod can then be saved as is or you can tear into the pod and remove the seeds. They will keep indefinitely.
Sam Byrnes is a Gentry-area resident who has been gardening from his youth. He may be contacted by email at [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author.
Editorial on 07/22/2015