Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum
ALMOST BEEKEEPING - RELATED TOPICS => GARDENING AROUND THE HOUSE => Topic started by: randydrivesabus on January 01, 2008, 01:09:53 pm
-
its seed ordering time for me. i decided to grow some okra this year hoping that it will sell well. its been a while since i grew any. i remember the flowers being very pretty. anyone have any variety recommendations? and does anyone know if honeybees work okra?
-
Clemson spineless. Grew well for me. Slow at first, but once it got a foothold it would turn into a small tree with nonstop pods. I always got red itchy arms from picking it. There wasn't much of a market for it here.
-
We had about 5 okra plants this year. The bees mostly ignore them, but once in a while I'd see one crawling on a bloom. We grew it for our own consumption, not to sell, and 5 plants was enough to do that and put some up for winter. As BenC said, it takes a while for them to get going, but when they do, they go crazy.
-
They just love the hot, dry conditions here in Placerville. The hotter, the more they grow. I did not do the planting, so do not have any info on variety. I could get this info for you if you want. Also, never saw the bees on the okra.
Annette
-
Spinless crimson is what i plant. I had 4 acres of it 2 years ago and sold only a couple hundred dollars of it before the market was flooded with it and was not worth picking except for our familys use. bees did not work the flowers but I had 8 acres of squash in the field next to the okra and the bees may have been busy with them.
-
i'm not going to plant anywhere near that much Dallas. I'm thinking of maybe 1 100' row. or less.
thanks for all the recommendations. looks like clemson spineless is the one to get.
-
do you guys have any idea how it would grow here? my husband loves the stuff. i can't stand it, but i'd grow it for him. we are safely above freezing mid march to the end of September, usually into October.
-
Should grow there as well. All the way up to the frost. I find that the hotter it is the faster it grows and it loves lots of humidity.
-
I am a market gardener...Okra is a rather big seller here in Texas. I have grown most of them (varieties) at one time or another. Last year, I bought some seed (very expensive for Okra) called "Jing Orange". It was brought to USA from China by Baker Creek Seeds (a GREAT co. -you should get their catalog) It was beautiful...even for Okra. More an intense redish orangy/violet (hows THAT for a description?) than orange. It was very productive and not as tall as many get. I do not recall much in the way of spiny growth. Good looking plant too, not rangy like others.
To me, it was better than most I have grown over the years.
I have seen my bees working Okra now and again. I suspect they might work it only at certain times of the day. I do not think it is a top choice for them.
Anyway...want some seed?
-
Okra is usually green. How did it taste?
Steve
-
Okra is usually green. How did it taste?
Steve
Due to head injuries received as a police officer I've long since lost my sense of smell. My granddaughter, last night at dinner, asked me how the Jello tasted, I said, "Red." She thought her grandma had mixed packages of Raspberry and Strawberry Jello. I told her that I use my imagination for how things taste, orange jello could be Mango, Orange, Tangerine, Cantalope, etc. Green Jello could be anything from Lime to Lettuce--didn't think of Okra.
-
I like how you turn lemons into lemonade brian. ;)
-
Hey Steve...there are actually a number of color varieties in Okra...red, burgandy, many shades of green -white too. I have never noticed a big difference in flavor. Pretty much all taste the same (I am putting my finger down my throat right now...wretch, gag...ha ha). Oh, I take that back...I do like it deep fried.
-
I love okra. A few pods will "wake up" a pot of home made vegetable soup, a pot of fresh butter beans or peas. It is delicious stewed with tomatoes and side of cornbread. Fried, southern or deep? I can, have, and will eat it just boiled.
Sir Stungalot, I would like a few of your seeds.
Steve
-
i would like to try your seeds too Sir Stung. Maybe I have some you'd like in exchange? I've got a few heirloom types that I planted last year but don't expect to this year. There are some squash, pumpkins, melons, and maybe tomatoes.
-
Hey Randy and Steve...drop me an email- I need an address to mail you some seed. Think you guys will like it. Steve, I think I need to re-think Okra, ha ha. You make it almost sound...good.
joeseffschmoe@hotmail.com No, my name is not Joe Schmoe lol....it is Tim
-
Kathy, I am not too sure if your climate is hot enough to grow Okra. I tried to grow it last year and it just plain and simply did not grow well. Well, actually, it did not even grow at all, got about 2 inches tall and that was it. Maybe it might grow if I started some in the greenhouse and set it out in June, like I do with peppers, or grew it in my tomato greenhouse. I love Okra and my Sister when they lived in Salt Lake City in Utah, had the most beautiful Okra plants. We had an unseasonably cool summer last year too, which didn't help things out much with growing, so that may have been another problem. I am going to try again this year, but grow it under cover for sure. Good luck, have a great day, Cindi
-
Randy and Cindi,
Maybe we need to start a seed swap thread? I don't save my seeds but I could start. I buy lots of wild flower and vegetable seeds every year. I love to try new things in the garden. I grew heirloom tomatoes from seeds last year. Might try again this year. I have some beautiful red amyrilis bulbs that I could share.
Tim, I will be sending you an email shortly. thanks.
Steve
-
Steve, I think that that was talked about before. Starting a thread would be a good idea, but I bet you wouldn't have enough people overly interested. I think that there are only a few of our forum friends that are totally into propagation of seeds. You know who I mean I am sure, hee, hee. Trading seeds through PMs works too. I have done that. Sending seeds through the mail can get quite costly, that is the only downside to it, but let's check it out and see what happens. Tap, your it!!! You start the thread, hee, hee. Best of the night and a great day tomorrow. Cindi
-
Kathy, I am not too sure if your climate is hot enough to grow Okra.
We can get okra to grow here in Hoosick Falls, 42.91N latitude. You have to coddle it a bit. Here are some tips.
Start the seeds indoors. They like really warm soil temps. We do ours in the oven using the oven light for heat. We prewarm the beds outdoors and keep them under row cover until they are too big to fit. We harvested enough Okra for at least one good pot of gumbo a month through the whole winter. Not to mention fried okra several times last summer. We tried a northern hardy variety but think that the Louisiana Green Velvet outproduced it and taste better too.
Okra is a super vegetable, chock full of nutrients... really good for you. Too bad more people don't like it.
Kev
-
Kev, oooh, I love okra. What a splendid plan, I will be following your suggestions, with a slight variation. I will start the seeds indoors, but under lights. When it comes near to the time of transplanting, I will warm the bed with black plastic, this is a wonderful heating tool for the earth, and I have cloches, I can make that tiny little greenhouse row that you speak of, until they get too big. Yeah!!! Just never thought about okra under cover. If you have any more cool tips, bring em' on!!!! Have a wonderful, great day, lovin' this life we live. Cindi
-
Kev, oooh, I love okra. What a splendid plan, I will be following your suggestions, with a slight variation. I will start the seeds indoors, but under lights. When it comes near to the time of transplanting, I will warm the bed with black plastic, this is a wonderful heating tool for the earth, and I have cloches, I can make that tiny little greenhouse row that you speak of, until they get too big. Yeah!!! Just never thought about okra under cover. If you have any more cool tips, bring em' on!!!! Have a wonderful, great day, lovin' this life we live. Cindi
The oven is really for the soil temp. Once they germinate we move them to a light table. The germination is really spotty unless you have the soil temp quite high. So if you don't get them to germinate in a few days, put them on a warming mat. In the oven, ours will germinate in only 2 or 3 days. Outside, it takes weeks. We figured this out by trial and error.
-
Will be planting some myself this year, would recommend Clemson Spineless, less sting.
Try drying it, Keeps good.
Do not wash, just chop as if to fry.
I have worlds of Elephant Garlic also.
But am running short on walking onions. :roll: ;) :)
doak
-
we tried Clemson spineless and head to head with the Louisiana Green Velvet and the cajun okra beat the other flat out for production. They were both in the same bed even.
Kev
-
Doak, hey, nice to see you again, you haven't been here is quite some time, hope all was well. Walking onions, what an interesting name. It reminds me of the top setting onions that grow around here, I think they are also called Egyptian Onions or something like that. I'll see if my seed catalogue has the Clemson spineless, that would be nice. Have a wonderful and awesome day, love our life we live. Cindi
-
Yes Cindi, thats the proper name. :roll:
doak
-
Doak, cool, C.
-
so i actually looked closely at my okra today and noticed that i have okra to pick even though the plants aren't very big. I grew the variety that I got from SirStungalot and also another variety which is green. the other day I thought there were only flowers on the plants.
Anyway, i guess its best to pick when its not too big? help?
-
Once it gets going it's just like cucumbers or zucchini, you'll be out there just about every day. Best size depends upon the variety. Just let a few pods go, then eat the different sizes while you're picking and you'll quickly figure out how old you can let it get. If you are just breaking the pods off, be careful with the older tough ones because the stems can get fibrous and you can actually break the branch off the plant if you jerk too hard.
-
Always try to gather it same time every other day. too big it gets tough,too small it's wasted, just right ,just right.
doak
-
i picked what looked ready and we had some for supper. i need to keep it picked smaller than what some of it was. i'll pick it when i pick squash which is every other day as suggested. now if i can only figure out what to charge for it at the farmers market.
-
Can't stand Okra, she has my wife wantin' to be in her stupid book club!
...JP
-
Can't stand Okra, she has my wife wantin' to be in her stupid book club!
...JP
Ha!Ha!
-
Can't stand Okra, she has my wife wantin' to be in her stupid book club!
...JP
JP, you are one funnnnneeee dude and oh yes, you make me wanna laugh, you make me wanna shout, I like the sprite in you-ou!!! You are a brat, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah!!!!
I never got around to putting okra in, rats!!!! I love okra. My Sister first turned me onto okra when we visited her down in Salt Lake City a few years ago, it was the yummiest thing that I have ever tasted. This spring set back the greenhouse work too far to even begin some of the "extra" things that I wanted to get in our gardens, oh well, guess we'll just have to buy okra at the food store. Beautiful and most wonderful day, this is our time to love life. Cindi
-
How much would it take for you to drink a glass of okra slime?? My wife won't eat it because of the slime.
...JP
-
If you boil the okra, add a little vinegar to the water. Very little "slime."