Finally----cut down my okra forest

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What's your winter crop? I alternate my modest okra plot with crimson clover for some nice winter color and nitrogen.

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I'm in N.O. so I can grow vegetables year round. My normal planting includes:

Plants from starters:

Collards
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Cabbage
Brussel Sprouts


From seed directly sown:

Beets
Onion Sets
Garlic
Kale
Swiss Chard
Leaf Lettuces-----includes several varieties
Pole Beans-----Japanese Yard Longs
Cucumbers


I will also get in a few tomato plants and they normally do well since our winters are pretty mild and I can get ripened tomatoes before the cold takes the plants out.

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I love grilling okra. haven't pickled any yet but plan to.

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Here's my pickled okra recipe and everybody who's had some loves it.


I pickle okra in quart jars and can average between 22-25 pods per quart the way I pack them.

Make sure your jars are well washed and before you start on packing the jars get a large enough pot of water on the stove so when you put the jars in the water bath they are covered by about 1 inch of water. Add 1/2 cup of vinegar to that water if you have "hard water" in your area. Bring the pot up to heat and no hotter than 185 degrees. You don't want to boil the jars of okra as that will just make them mushy in the end.

Ingredients:

Sliced garlic-----I use 2 cloves per quart
Sliced Onion--thinly sliced added to the bottom of the jar and again when half stuffed

Mustard Seed
Hot Pepper Flakes or cut up fresh peppers if you have them
White Vinegar
Water
Salt

I use my largest pods first and place them in the jar stem side down and pack them in as tight as I can get them after adding 1 sliced clove of garlic and some onion slices.

Then I add the 2nd clove slices and additional onion slices to the jar and then pack the jar with smaller pods stem end up so the pointy end gets pushed between the first pods. Pack them as tight as you can and you should be able to turn the jar upside down when done and no okra comes out.

Fill the jars halfway with vinegar and top them off with water. Pour all the liquid into a saucepan and bring to a boil after adding salt to taste. I usually salt pretty heavily since most brines are very salty.

While the brine is coming to a boil, add mustard seed and pepper flakes to the jars. Then once the brine comes to a boil, ladle it into the jars leaving about 1/2 in. head space, wipe the top of the jar to remove any brine, add the flat lid and then screw on the retainer ring.

When you have all jars filled, place them in the hot water bath and let them in there for 20 minutes for quarts and only 15 minutes if you do some pint jars. Try to maintain the water at 185 during that time.

After 20 minutes, remove and put the jars on a towel on your countertop to cool. During the cooling process they should form a vacuum. IF a jar does not form a vacuum, let it completely cool and place it in your fridge while the ones that do form a vacuum can be put in a pantry until needed.

Once I open a jar, they go in the fridge until I finish them off. I usually let them sit for a week or so before opening the jars to eat to make sure they are completely pickled.


Thanks for the heads-up on the dried okra as I've never had it but do have a dehydrator and lots of okra on hand to give it a try.

Oh, and I agree, grilled okra is killer, and one of my favorite ways to eat it.

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We had about 100 at my mother's I think we will scale that back next year

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Yeah, 100 would be WAY too many for my liking. Hell, just with the 55 I had, it gave me more okra than I could possibly use for my personal cooking.

I probably averaged close to 65-70 pods a day picking and have been doing that daily since late June.

Now, this is what I don't get about okra. Head to almost any store and look at the cost per pound for what they are passing off as fresh okra. In Rouses 3 days ago I saw one of those Styrofoam trays with the clear shrink wrap over it of okra. It was full of small pods that were getting black spots on them and it showed a weight of 12 oz. on the package-----for $4.99. That's well over $6 a lb. and that is insane.

Okra is just like a weed. It grows and grows, is heat and drought tolerant, so it thrives in S.E. La. in the summer months and they produce until they are pulled in my garden. I've had them as late as early October and they were still producing well.

if you like dried okra you should try it freeze dried. Okra chips

I garden year round, but two things I don't plant are okra and peas. I fought them as a kid in my parents garden, and it was a daily struggle. Every damn day.

We ate fresh vegetables for most of the summer and fall, and put them up for the winter. I miss it, and it was a good country upbringing, but not enough to repeat it.

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I’d love to see some pictures of this okra forest; I bet the flowers were beautiful

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It's cut down to 3 ft. with all plants topped. The flowers are a pale yellow and okra is a member of the hibiscus family with fairly broad flowers----about 3 inches across.

The flowers mainly bloom near the top of the plants since that is where the new okra pods are formed damn near daily. That is why they are so prolific once they start producing.

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No way I would do more than the 5 I have in my garden.

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I just got back in from pulling all the okra plants out of the ground and by pulling, I mean using the shovel to really loosen the soil and cut through many of the roots to get them to come out of the ground so I could knock off the soil around the root ball.

I now have a good size pickup truck load in the back of my driveway to be hauled off later this week.

Five plants would have been a breeze, but I had more than 50 of them.

At least now I can finish raking up the debris, pull any weeds that took hold around the plants and then get the soil turned in preparation to plant the fall/winter stuff.

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Yeah, my mother can have fun with her 100 or so Okra plants

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Bless her heart---------and her back..............

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She is about to be 72 and just finished refurbishing her second boat smh

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I'm approaching 73 in November and still doing pretty good for myself considering how much I abused my body as a younger man.

Good for her to be doing what she loves.