Don't waste a Southern delicacy when it's in season

Man cannot live by bread alone, he must have some peanut butter and OKRA.

Okra is a flowering plant in the Mallow Family (along with such species as cotton, cocoa, and hibiscus), valued for its edible green fruits. I have some very good friends in Texas who will totally disagree with that. Okra's scientific name is Abelmoschus esculentus; it is occasionally referred to by the synonym Hibiscus esculentus L. I wonder if my Texas friend would eat it if I called it by Abelmoschus esculentus. I would doubt it. I won't identify them by name. He and I were born and raised in Watson. Let me make that a little more clear. He is from Watson, Illinois and I am from Watson, Arkansas. He and I have a lot in common. We both have been to Watson, TX. We both are scientists working in the oil industry (for the same company from January 1968 to January 1998), we both know where West Liberty, IL is located, we both are railfans, we both have been to the Deadhorse, Alaska (North Slope of Alaska - Prudhoe Bay Oilfield). I do have one up on him, I have been to Chicken, Alaska, but he hasn't. We both have stood by the railroad tracks in Spring, TX and watched Union Pacific 3985 (an articulated 4-6-6-4 steam locomotive) steam by. But enough of the similarities, two things that we don't have in common - the love of peanut butter and okra.

Okra grows only in a frost free climates. Which means, I plant it about May 15 in the St. Louis area and it will continue to grow till the first frost (~Oct 15). In Texas, I could plant it about March 1 and it would grow till about December 1 (sometimes even latter, many years Houston area can go without frost until Jan-Feb. I have a brother in Michigan that likes okra as much as I do, but he has a very short growing season (June 15 - Sept 15) for okra. He has to start seeds indoors about a month earlier than his frost free time of planting. He still has a very difficult time getting a decent okra crop. My plants are now (Aug 25) about 5 1/2 feet tall and will likely grow another foot or two of height before frost. In Texas my plants were over 10 feet tall at the end of the season.

Here I am picking okra in my garden when we lived in Texas.

Because okra is a member of the mallow family, it's blooms look very similar to cotton and hibiscus. The blooms are white the first day and begin to turn red by evening then fall off the second day.



Okra can prepared by slicing the pods crossways, breaking an egg into it, then add corn meal, salt, pepper. Stir together well and fry in hot oil (the best way to eat it).


It is good to eat by boiling small tender pods, draining the water, then add butter. Many don't like it prepared this way as it is slimy. However, if you add a little bit of vinegar or tomato juice to the water, it will take away the sliminess. A good recipe is sliced okra and tomatoes cooked together.


Okra that has been pickled is very good (best with a dill pickling recipe).

Dilled Okra Pickles

2 pounds small, tender okra pods (whole with stems left on)

dill seed or fresh dill

celery seed or celery leaves

1 clove garlic

1 quart water

1 pint vinegar

1/2 cup salt

1) Pack scrubbed okra into sterilized pint jars.

2) Add to each jar 1/4 teaspoon dill and celery seed, clove garlic. Add a pod of hot pepper if desired.

3) Heat water, vinegar and salt to boiling. Fill jars with boiling hot brine and tighten lids. Process jars 5 minutes in boiling water bath.

4) let stand 4 to 6 weeks before using

Okra is also very good in Gumbo. But if you can't bring yourself to eat okra, then let the pods mature to the dry stage on the plant then use it this way.