Okra question

[newatthiskat]

Well I will have to take pics if they get big enough to take over my house. I have 2 burgandy and 4 CS. My husband is really the only one that eats okra so I am hoping to have him covered in it. They are in the only soil I have that actually has earthworms. They are next to the brick on the house. What should I be looking at as far as amount to expect? I would hope that would be plenty for him? I am wanting to pickle,freeze and what ever else is done to it
Kat

[duajones]

I dont know what the norm is but my first year growing CS I grew only 5 plants averaging over 100 pods per plant before the season was over. You dont want to let CS get to big and I usually harvest at around 3-4 inches. I was harvesting twice a day at heaviest production.

[newatthiskat]

Thanks again duajones for answering my question. I am thinking that I should have come here before planting out. I think it is possible that people will see me and run away from my produce! I am definately going to have to buy a freezer
Kat

[duajones]

You are welcome Kat but remember that I said it may not be the norm. I had people on several occasions look at me in disbelief when I told them that I harvested 600 plus pods from just 5 okra plants. And maybe its not the norm, but my plants didnt know any difference

[Mojo]

Twice a day is about right around here during high season. When I do grow okra, I try to go out ASAP after a heavy rain to get the good ones --literally in hours they can go from yum to yuck. I'm not growing any this year because of space issues.

Oh, and the fire ants. I got tired of fighting the fire ants. They LOVE okra. Neem oil doesn't faze them, and I am leery of using too much Amdro (bait) in the beds.

[newatthiskat]

I was hoping for about 30-40 per plant so even if something does happen and I have 3 foot plants that are scrawny, I should get that at least! This is a learning year
Kat

[newatthiskat]

I got this recipe while searching the web and thought I would share


http://www.howtopickle.com/recipes/okra_pickles.html
OKRA PICKLES

3 1/2 lb Small okra pods
4 Cloves garlic
2 sm Hot peppers, cut in half
3 c Water
3 c Vinegar
1/3 c Canning salt
2 ts Dill seed

Pack okra firmly into hot jars,
leaving 1/4 inch head space. Put
a garlic clove and half a pepper in
each jar. Combine water, vinegar,
salt and dill seed and bring to a boil.
Pour hot liquid over okra, leaving
1/4 inch head space. Remove air bubbles.
Adjust caps. Process 15 minutes in
boiling water bath.

Yield: about 4 pints.
Kat

[organichris]

I'm probably gonna try this recipe. I love pickled okra, and if I can customize it to make it super hot, all the better.

[organichris]

Yeah, so I went out to my garden spot and all my okra and a good number of my peppers, watermelons had been eaten by deer. So I think I'm going to hide out in there with a baseball bat. The second one of those suckers step into my garden, pow! Right in the kisser!...Or I could try to build a makeshift fence of some kind.

[newatthiskat]

I am sorry about the varmits eating your plants! Very frustrating to put all that effort into growing them and planning for them only to have something else take away your harvest.
Kat

[duajones]

Wow, thats terrible. I guess us folks are lucky that dont have to deal with 4 legged varmints

[organichris]

Really its my fault for not preparing, but that doesn't keep me from wanting to put a deer in a choke hold. Blood meal has worked well in the past and its cheap. If I broadcast it over the whole garden area, they probably won't come around for a while. I've been using my own urine, but after a good rain, forget about it. Then there's always the fence option, which I'm too lazy for.

[duajones]

Well I ended up transplanting 8 plants a couple of weeks ago and they are all doing fantastic with the exception of one plant that is growing much slower than the others for some reason. They were only in pots for a couple of weeks and their root system was already to the bottom of the pots when I transplanted them out. They had been wilting during the hottest part of the day but I have since added leaves as mulch and they seem to be happy campers now. And the soil is still moist in the afternoon when I get home instead of being dry. I may be able to get by with a once every other day watering now, where as it was twice a day before. Looking forward to some fried okra!

[duajones]

Well it shouldnt be much longer until I have some okra to harvest. I have had to battle aphids early on but seem to be winning the war. They are now 32 days from transplant, 46 days after sowing.

[duajones]

I have blooms this morning so it wont be long till I am swimming in okra