Okra

(Page 3 of 3)

June/July 2002
 
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Three to four plants produce more than enough okra for the average family. Excess pods can be frozen, or you can make okra pickles. (See "Hot Pickled Okra," at left) To freeze, just blanch the whole pods in boiling water for three to four minutes. then immediately cool them in an ice water hath. Freeze them in plastic bags, squeezing out as much air as possible before sealing.

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To save seed from okra, let a few pods on each plant go unharvested. They'll grow large, then start to dry. If possible let them dry fully on the plants. If not, once the drying has started, take them indoors and let them dry thoroughly. Even fully mature green pods can be dried indoors. The seeds shell easily from the dried pods.

Although okra flowers are perfect and self-pollinating, the showy blooms are very attractive to bees, and different varieties readily cross-pollinate. To guarantee seed purity, varieties should be separated by at least one mile, or other isolation techniques—such as bagging individual flowers—should be used. When stored under ideal conditions, okra seed will remain viable for about five years.

OkraSeed Sources: Park Seed, (800) 845-3369, www.park.seed.com ; Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, (540) 8949480, www.southernexposure.com .

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Comments

  • Roger 8/22/2007 3:09:47 PM

    Comment: This is not a question,but a want to give to others what I
    do with my okra that is to big to fry. For us about 10 pods we run
    them through the food chopper. we fry off about 1/4 lb turkey
    sausage crisp then blend it in with the okra A little flower to
    make it stick togather Make into patties and fry it all to brown.

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