I bought okra plants on a whim this year. Once I got them home, I realized I was completely clueless about how they grew. Fast forward to harvest time and here I am again, clueless. My husband and I have been discussing when to pick them and we decided to wait and let them get big. Bad idea. Apparently after they grow past 4"or so they begin to get tough.
I went to make my grandparents some baked okra and most of the ones I had picked were too tough to do anything with. Sad. Anyway, I decided to save the seed out of them for next year. I bought the plants from Wal-Mart. Do you think the seeds will produce? I guess we shall see. Gardening is just one big science experiment too me. :)
What lessons have you learned in the garden?
I definitely think the seeds will produce. We've actually found that the best way to preserve the seed is to save the entire piece of okra and then scrape the seeds out next year when you are ready to plant. We're growing six okra plants right now that I planted from seeds preserved just like that from last year.
ReplyDeleteAwesome! I already scraped them out of the pods, but I'll keep that in mind for next year.
DeleteFor the best germination rate, you really need to let the pod mature and dry on the plant. The drawback to this is that if you don't keep them picked while they are small, the plant will quit producing and focus on maturing the pods that are still on the plant.
ReplyDeleteYou've already learned the hard lesson, and that's the one about picking them small, although there is at least one variety out there that can get a little longer than the others and still not be tough. I'm drawing a blank on the name right now, but those produce really skinny pods.
I think my husbands grandma used to grow the ones that get long because he kept telling me not too pick them, but I wasn't so sure...
DeleteI think of us have amde that mistake. I would love your baked okra recipe - we only eat it breaded and fried. I know, so bad.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I nominated you for the Versatile Blogger Award. Here's more info http://www.schneiderpeeps.com/2012/07/versatile-blogger-award.html )