<p>Anyone have any tips for growing Okra (in containers) in northern climates? The neighborhood greengrocer had a fire sale on seedlings, so I brough home some Okra plants, the Cajun Delight cultivar. Last year a friend planted the Clemson cultivar in her backyard and the darn things grew to be 7 feet tall and produced enough pods to feed an army.</p>
<p>Of my four okra seedlings, only one has shown demonstrable growth in three weeks, but nothing spectacular. What to do?</p>
<p>OK, my first question would be why? Do you have an army to feed? Does that army need more indigestible fibre? Do you like the slimy texture? Do you have a better way of cooking it than any of the ways that I’ve had? I’m digging the “fire sale” on the plants, but maybe there’s a reason they didn’t sell ;)</p>
<p>. . . just kidding, of course, but only just 
:)</p>
<p>LOL Saintfan. I needed to laugh.</p>
<p>I had the same question. Okra is the one vegetable that I not only don’t like but prety much won’t eat. :p</p>
<p>For me, only in the greenhouse. (I love them!)</p>
<p>NOBODY needs Okra. It’s just a poor substitute for a whole lot of sorta better vegetables.</p>
<p>I’m thinking that it went in those traditional dishes in the first place because it was cheap and undesirable to people with money and better options. I finally realized that I could leave it out of my jambalaya and it would be better - and the authenticity police wouldn’t come knocking either.</p>
<p>New question: Is there anyone out there who genuinely likes okra and not just because it reminds them of when they were little or something?</p>
<p>After my initial laughter and wonderment that anyone would consider growing Okra on purpose, I’ve now calmed down enough to notice the words “Cajun delight”…and now I’m laughing again…</p>
<p>I LOVE okra. Fried in butter with seasoned breadcrumbs, or simmered in vegetable soup. Nothing better!</p>
<p>Anything fried in butter is good.
But when it is good in the first place that makes it even better.
Id rather eat nettles than okra.
It sounds like cajun delight is cold tolerant but also slow to get started.
[url=<a href=“http://www.motherearthnews.com/Organic-Gardening/2002-06-01/Okra.aspx]Okra[/url”>http://www.motherearthnews.com/Organic-Gardening/2002-06-01/Okra.aspx]Okra[/url</a>]</p>
<p>hayden - in the soup, what do you do to it to avoid that seemingly impossible combination of toughness and sliminess that I can’t seem to avoid?</p>
<p>*, what do you do to it to avoid that seemingly impossible combination of toughness and sliminess that I can’t seem to avoid?
*
Thats not a bug, thats a feature. ;)</p>
<p>This page actually has good things to say,perhaps it has been wronged.
[All</a> About Okra](<a href=“http://www.neurophys.wisc.edu/ravi/okra/]All”>http://www.neurophys.wisc.edu/ravi/okra/)</p>
<p>I found this on a pro-okra site: I’m thinking that ‘mucilaginous’ is not my favorite adjectives for describing my vegetables :)</p>
<p>Okra is notorious for the mucilaginous substance found inside the pods. Depending on how it is cooked, okra can be extremely slimy, and some people find this texture repellent. The thick goo can also be advantageous, however, as when okra is used in soups and stews as a thickener. To reduce the slimy texture of okra, many cooks like to cook it with acidic ingredients which will cut through the slime, and some believe that okra benefits from being cut, lightly sprinkled in salt to draw out the slime, and allowed to rest for 15-20 minutes before cooking.</p>
<p>It reads like a ‘how to cook a banana slug’ blog</p>
<p>OK - I am really learning something reading up on okra . . . no . . . really. It turns out that is is thought of as a thickener and longer cooking along with some tomato will cut slim and “stringiness”. I’ve been jesting here, but it is fun to branch out and learn something new - I am so not a foodie.</p>
<hr>
<p>From an okra blog . . .</p>
<p>"Don’t worry. Frozen okra is fine. I can rarely find good fresh okra in markets even in summer so I’ve stopped trying.
You can ask every gumbo cook in Louisiana and you’ll get a different answer, so I can only tell you how my family made okra-based gumbos.
We didn’t use both roux and okra. Made them too gloppy and the okra was all the thickener they needed. And NEVER use both okra and file.
After you’ve saut</p>
<p>Here in extreme South Florida, okra is one of the few vegetables that will actually grow during the summer. We just put in two rows, and—barring a storm-engendered washout—plan to harvest in late July. Our hot and humid climate and our sandy, porous soil are, however, just what our okra plants like. I’m afraid I can’t offer much advice for plants in a cooler, drier climate…
With respect to slime-less preparation, several tricks I learned from my Mediterranean mother-in-law are: harvest the pods early (no larger than an inch long); never pierce the main body of the pods when (gingerly) peeling off the outer layer of the caps; gently simmer in a tomato-onion sauce just until tender, stirring carefully so as to avoid puncturing the pods.</p>
<p>I confess- I am a huge fan of fried okra. Here in MD, it’s almost impossible to find but on the rare occasions I make it to a Cracker Barrel restaurant, I will load up!</p>
<p>Indian cuisine includes okra- nice spicing and not the slimy or breaded and deep fried textures.</p>
<p>I am sensing a recurring ‘introduce tomato’ theme to de-sliming it. Thanks for tips - I may broaden my horizons here.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>This is the way I do it sometimes without breadcrumbs. They stop being slimy after about 5 minutes. The best okra I had was cooked in yogurt with garlic, heavenly.</p>
<p>We tried to grow okras one season. I got “one” okra. It did have beautiful flowers tho.</p>