A few weeks ago, a friend and former co-worker gave me a set of okra plants that she recently started. She knew that I had tried — and failed miserably — at growing okra from seed a few years ago.
Even with the use of a greenhouse, the semi-tropical plants never really took off beyond the seedling size.
However, these three okra plants that she gave me are huge! They’re nearly 4 feet tall and have okra fruit as long as 6 inches.
In this week’s edition of Gardentalk, which airs during “Morning Edition” on KTOO on Thursdays during growing season, Master Gardener Ed Buyarski helps me out with what he knows about watering, fertilizing, and harvesting okra.
“Usually, smaller is better,” Buyarski said. He advises harvesting young okra fruit when they are about 2 to 4 inches long. “Tender, young, kind of like zucchinis.”
“The ones you have already (that are 6 inches long) may be a bit big. Maybe fine for something like gumbo,” said Buyarski, who warns the big ones can get tough fairly quickly.
Listen to the April 5 podcast about okra and tools:
Buyarski also provides some tool cleaning and maintenance tips and gives us a preview of a garden tool workshop that’s coming up this from 3 to 5 p.m. Saturday at the Douglas Library. The workshop will cover sharpening and oiling of tools.
“A sharp tool is going to work better, cut better,” Buyarski said. “It’ll be easier on your hands to use those tools.”
Do you have a question for Master Gardener Ed Buyarski about gardening or yard care? Then go to our archive page where you can pose your question in the form on the right. You can also browse through previous seasons’ Gardentalk segments.
