Growing Vegetables

Plant seeds when soil has warmed up. Okra  has a slightly soft consistency that takes some getting used to. However, when dipped in batter, breaded and fried, chopped for use in soup stock or sea food gumbos, or served with black-eyed peas, young okra pods are delicious. Okra pods grow on large, erect, bushy plants with tropical-looking leaves. The pods appear where leaf stems join the main stem.

How to plant

Okra seeds need a soil temperature of 70 to 75^° to sprout. Sprouting can be improved by soaking seeds in water for 24 hours before planting. Sow seeds in groups of three in a sunny, well-drained area at the back of the garden where the large plants won’t shade smaller vegetables. Mature plants should stand 3 feet apart.

Care

Okra plants are very heat resistant but need lots of water and fairly fertile soil (fertilize at least once during the growing season). Plants yield late and poorly where summers are cool. Elsewhere, late-spring plant­ing will begin yielding in midsummer and continue until a killing frost. Eight to twelve plants should yield enough pods to feed four people.

Harvesting

Pods should be harvested with a paring knife when they’re 1 to 3 inches in length; they can get tough if allowed to go more than a day or two past their prime. Remove overripe pods to maintain vigor in plants.

In containers

The variety ‘Red River’ has a tropical look and in a large tub on a warm patio would yield enough okra to make one plant worth growing. Other varieties are too tall and rangy looking to be decorative.