Saving Seeds: Okra

My neighbor (where I grew the zucchini this past fall) grows okra every summer. They eat most of it, share some of it and always save a bunch of seeds to use to plant next years crops and share.

I started growing some of his okra in my herb gardens this year because I like the flowers. The deer agreed with me, they like the flowers (and the leaves) too, so I had very few flowers to see and no okra at all from my plants.

That doesn’t mean I won’t try again, although I will plant some inside the garden fence so I have a better chance of seeing the flowers and have something to harvest.

I also think I will try a different variety after reading a comment from Clara  over at Beadcharmer Designs. She mentioned how her mother pickles her okra. The one I grow is rather squat and fat, and Clara commented that the more slender varieties pickle better…. I’m game to try it. I have several bags of okra frozen, but I would still like to work towards finding other ways to preserve things. I don’t know if I will like pickled okra, but it is worth making a couple of pints to find out.

As I was paging through the newest Seed Savers catalog, I plotted an okra that is the most similar to the one from my neighbors. Star of David (aka Old Fashioned Okra.) As I was looking at the other okra in their catalog, I spotted one called Hill Country Red….. what! I live in the Hill Country, and after reading its description and seeing that is is a South Texas heirloom, I am going to give it a try. It also says it is good for picking… yippee.

I better get my seeds ordered because Spring in our area will be here before we know it.

Do you grow okra?

Sincerely, Emily