Growing okra; tough and super productive.

I’m so impressed with okra! They are extraordinarily hardy and bear a consistent yield of pods, they have a long season, and best of all the freshly picked fruit is much better than shop bought pods.

Okra seedlings — The first okra seedlings in late November, producing fruit already.

Growing okra

I sowed ‘Clemsons spineless’ seeds in trays in early spring, and held them until I got a bed together. The seeds are quite large, a little bigger than coriander seeds, so easy to handle and sow into individual chambers. By using a seed tray with large chambers I can have them well advanced before planting.

The six seedlings that I transplanted and then kept alive through the dry weather went lush with the return of rain. After planting out they may concentrate on putting out roots for a while, but here they really start putting on shoot growth in November (late Spring) when the days are consistently warm. Here’s a photo from after they had survived the dry, when I was impressed with getting my first fruit from such little plants. Not only did they take off as if never stressed, they flowered and set pods very quickly. The flowers are lovely too; little hibiscuses which only last a day.

Okra plants — The same plants at the end of January (high Summer)

My patch down at the Mid-levels has a bigger bed of okra that I sowed in situ, which fast caught up. Now, a month later and after some sustained rainy weather, both plots are looking very strong, and the plants are taller than a metre.

growing okra — The later planting at the Mid-levels

The yield has been pretty constant, certainly as much as we can eat and give away.

Okra pods grow quickly, and it’s very easy for them to become monsters overnight, so I am getting in the habit of cutting them every other day and keeping them in the fridge. The trouble with the big pods is that they get a bit stringy (the flavour remains fine), so it’s best to cut small and early and have faith that they will just keep coming.

Here is today’s (two day) harvest.

These also don’t seem as mucilaginous as the ones I used to buy. I don’t know whether that’s to do with the cultivar or the storage age, but halved lengthways and quickly fried with spring onion these are crisp and delicate.

I’m pretty certain that I’ll be growing okra every warm season, and spending Spring looking forward to picking some pods.