The Magic of Okra

The much awaited okra harvest has started. People often ask how we grow okra this far north. Okra hates cold almost as much as basil, so that is a ligitimate question. 

The secret is to start transplants early so you can get the plants big enough to harvest of several months before frost. We have about six week until frost.

What is the Optimum Amount of Sunlight for Vegetables in Pots

The amount of day light available to your potted vegetables will determine the growth rate. What is the ideal amount?

Minnesota Gumbo

As related in an earlier post on okra, Lisa and I honeymooned in New Orleans 26 years ago. We sampled many of the local specialties and one of the best was the local gumbo. I've made gumbo many times and have adapted it to Minnesota and what is available locally in the summer.

The word gumbo is derived from African words for okra. Gumbo is a stew that can take many forms, one of the common threads through most gumbos is okra, which we are starting to sell this week at the farmers market.

Minnesota Ingredients:

1 cup of oil (coconut, butter or bacon grease)
1 cup of whole wheat flour
2 pounds Okra with stems and tips removed (Petersen)
1 large onion, diced (Petersen)
1 large green bell pepper, diced (Petersen)
4 stalks of celery, diced (Petersen)
1 pound of smoked pork sausage, sliced 1/4 inch thick (farmers market)
4 large cloves garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste
6 cups chicken broth
1 bay leaf
4 chicken breasts, diced or shredded
Creole seasoning (optional)

Directions:

1. Whisk flour into the oil a roux is formed, about 8-10 minutes and the roux is the color of chocolate
2. Cook the okra until the sap has disappeared.
3. Mix the onion, bell pepper, celery, and sausage into the roux, cook for approximately 5 minutes. Mix in the garlic and cook another 5 minutes. Add the okra. Season; mix thoroughly. Pour chicken broth and add the bay leaf. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to medium-low, and simmer, uncovered for about an hour, mix occasionally. Stir in chicken, and simmer another hour.
4. Serve over a bed of rice.

Kick It Up

1. Many gumbos use seafood such as fish or shrimp.
2. You can add more spice by adding the creole seasoning.
3. A jalapeno or two will also add some spice.
4. Ham is also a common gumbo meat.
5. You can add some heirloom tomatoes to thicken the sauce.

Is Okra a Vegetable for Dixie, Ya Shure?

Many of our customer seem very surprise when we start bringing Okra to market each year. Especially those that are from the south and new to town. "I thought Okra was a southern vegetable!" is the common refrain.

Well take it from an old Scandinavian. It just tain't so!

It takes a little doing but you can grow Okra in Minnesota. We typically get about a 60 day harvest window before the frost stops all the Okra festivities. Okra is very sensitive to cold; similar to basil in that respect.

Lisa and I were first exposed to Okra 25 years ago when we were on our honeymoon in New Orleans. We had a stew or soup called Gumbo that had lots of Okra in it. We had other strange foods while we were there like oysters on the half shell and blackened red fish (sounds colorful). I bought a New Orleans cook book and tried to grow some of the main ingredients.

I had promised to take Lisa some place where they had a beach for our honeymoon. I figured Lake Pontchcartrain had a beach and never checked any further. Well wouldn't you know it they only had a levee and not a beach. We looked all over but no beach.  We had fun anyway, but she reminds me that I still owe her a beach. You'd think that a French Quarter would be good enough. But I digress...

It is our anniversary today, so I guess I'm doing a little reminiscing.

I ran across a YouTube video a while back where an old gentleman with a thick southern accent was showing how he picked Okra. It was really comical. He had an electric golf cart that he drove along the Okra rows and picked Okra from the seat of his golf cart. He picked about 15 pounds that way and then showed his viewers how he froze the fresh Okra for use during the winter. The interesting thing was the Okra plants he was picking was 6-7 feet tall. It looked like a jungle. He'd reach in and snap off the pods. Very educational!

Because of our short growing season Our Okra never gets over 3-4 feet tall. See my post earlier this season on how we grow Okra.

I'll put a recipe for gumbo in a future post. It has lots of good vegetables in it that are typically available as soon as the Okra is.

Oh, by the way we are starting to harvest Okra this week. It might take a couple of weeks before all the plants are bearing and we have a large quantity.

Ya'll come get some. Ya shure!

We Planted Okra Today

Reed and Jenna planted about 300 okra plants today. We are trying several new hybrids this year Millionaire and Jambalaya. These were big 4 inch plants, planted back in early May. They planted the plants from 3 inch pots into a strip of compost about six inches wide. They space the plants out about one foot apart. The compost will attract earth worms to the rows, provide a little compost tea to the plants when we water and protect the rows from weeds for about 1/2 of the growing season. We used about 25 lbs of organic turkey manure based fertilizer under the compost.

We soaked them good with a hose and will water again in a couple of days. They looked great like little sentinels standing in a row. In a few weeks you can tell when they grow down into the fertilizer band because they turn a dark green.

Harvest will start in 4-6 weeks.

Did you know that okra is in the hibiscus family. Think about what the blooms look like and you will see the connection. Blooms only last a day, just like the hibiscus.

Growing Red Okra

Growing red okra in Minnesota can be very easily done using the same methods as green okra. See Growing Okra in Minnesota post.

We first started growing red okra as a ornamental plant to use in our flower arrangements. The pods curl neatly and they are very shiny making an attractive focus item in a bouquet.

But turns out the red okra is mighty tasty by itself and stays tender longer than the green okra. The red color also adds some lycopene to the diet.

Red okra is open pollinated so you can dry the pods and save the seed for next year if you wish.

Okra sends out lots of side stems from the main stalk and so the harvest multiplies as the season progresses. These side shoots can have more fruit than the main stem by the end of the season.

Red okra is just another one of those serendipity items that you discover for no reason at all. I've always thought that "Red Okra" would be a good name for a hole in the wall coffee shop or organic restaurant.

How to Grow Okra In Minnesota

How to grow Okra in Minnesota. Okra is known as a southern grown vegetable, but you can grow it just fine in Minnesota. It is slow to germinate so if you direct seed usually the weeds take over. So what  should you do?

I have some flats that were used for perennials (they have large pockets). I start the Okra in these flats and then move to the field toward the end of May or early June when all danger of frost is past. We planted 14 flats about 300 plants the last weekend in April.

Okra Plants at the Farmer's Market

We dig a trench with the tiller and then fill the trench with compost. We plant the 6 inch tall okra in the composted row. No weeds and the larger okra plants will soon shade the ground.

Grown this way the okra is very tasty. The newer hybrids yield well and are more tender than the previous open pollinated varieties. This is one case where planting the newer hybrids really pays off.

As the season progresses the plants branch, so the harvest multiplies week to week.

Okra is like basil in that it absolutely abhors frost. Like basil it is dead at first frost. In a home garden you can cover it for the first few light frosts.

Fresh okra far out shines the frozen style in the freezer section. I never see fresh okra in the stores here as I think it is too perishable to ship.

See us as the farmers market for your okra needs or to buy plants in the spring. Simply delicious.

If you want to sample fried Okra year around. Try "John Hardys" Barbeque Restaurant.