okra

Okra has been the most wonderful of surprises here. It thrives in this heat & humidity which wipe out most other plants, and it shrugs off all pests and problems with a special grace. Last year winds from Gustav and then Ike knocked the okra over - but when I just picked them up and staked them down (stakes at either end of the row and rope between), then kept on producing well into October. I had so much okra I didn't know what to do with it, so started pickling it - and that is a special joy as well.

Perhaps the first surprise okra brought me was the beauty of its flowers. Holy moley! They knock me flat every time I see them.

In The Garden Primer by Barbara Damrosch, she says to get new seed every year and to speed up the normally slow germination process by soaking the seeds overnight in tepid water. I found if I plant when it's very warm out, there's no need to soak.

I was dismayed when mine this year had a very bad infestation of aphids and ants (the ants tend the aphids like cattle) and then mealy bugs, and I went to some great lengths to rid myself of them. (Really I was just an idiot for laying a garden bed on what was clearly an ant trail - but what to do in these tiny New Orleans yards?) I sprinkled cinnamon, turmeric, and cayenne pepper (it looked like this in July - now it's September and it's producing).

It looked like Indian food, but it did no good.

Then, I tried vinegar water based on website & a friend, and it killed all the leaves I sprayed it on. But, the plant came back. Neither bugs nor poisons killed it, and now I'm getting some wonderful okra pods each day.

The trick is to pick it when it's little and tender rather than too large and woody. This can be tricky because sometimes the pods seem to hide, and the day after being sure you picked all possible pods, you find one 8" long which is tough like a tree. You need to pick every other day at least - because when you stop picking, the okra stops producing.

I like Clemson Spineless because those pesky spines are irritating.

When I pick, I make sure they're fully dry, then stick them in a green bag and accumulate until I have enough for a gumbo or to pickle. They can also be frozen (sliced or whole). I try to accumulate less than a week though - don't want quality to deteriorate too much.