My old timer gardening buddy says when one cuts the okra from the plant to
also cut the accompanying leaf...He had no clear reason, but said "that's
what you do"...
Any merit to that practice?
Thanks.
Perry

On Jun 20, 9:24 am, "perrylep" wrote:
My old timer gardening buddy says when one cuts the okra from the plant to
also cut the accompanying leaf...He had no clear reason, but said "that's
what you do"...
Any merit to that practice?
Thanks.
Perry

I don't know about that, but around here, we just cut the okra
itself. Maybe I can learn something new here too..........

"perrylep" wrote:
My old timer gardening buddy says when one cuts the okra from the plant to
also cut the accompanying leaf...He had no clear reason, but said "that's
what you do"...
Any merit to that practice?

I've been growing okra for many years, never heard of that practice.
I cut just the pods with a small amount of stem when they're fairly
small, about 3-4 inches... I don't really see how you can include a
leaf without also cutting into the main trunk and damaging the
plant.

http://davesgarden.com/pf/showimage/26940/

Usually I freeze them in zip-locs and save them for the winter months
for soups and stews. Okra is kinda ok breaded and fried but then I
don't consider it so much a vegetable as fat laden breading so it's
rare I fry them. Those I don't freeze get cut into salads and I
pickle some. I began growing okra from when I visited Belize many
years ago and saw them growing everywhere; large handsome plants with
gorgeous blossoms. Okra does best in warmer climes but they grow here
in NY too.

On Jun 20, 10:35 am, Sheldon wrote:
"perrylep" wrote:
My old timer gardening buddy says when one cuts the okra from the plant to
also cut the accompanying leaf...He had no clear reason, but said "that's
what you do"...
Any merit to that practice?

I've been growing okra for many years, never heard of that practice.
I cut just the pods with a small amount of stem when they're fairly
small, about 3-4 inches... I don't really see how you can include a
leaf without also cutting into the main trunk and damaging the
plant.

that's what i was thinking.............


http://davesgarden.com/pf/showimage/26940/

Usually I freeze them in zip-locs and save them for the winter months
for soups and stews. Okra is kinda ok breaded and fried but then I
don't consider it so much a vegetable as fat laden breading so it's
rare I fry them. Those I don't freeze get cut into salads and I
pickle some. I began growing okra from when I visited Belize many
years ago and saw them growing everywhere; large handsome plants with
gorgeous blossoms. Okra does best in warmer climes but they grow here
in NY too.

i freeze mine also. never heard or seen anyone put them in salads. i
have to pick all the seeds out before i can eat them cause of health
reasons, so i don't eat that often myself.

Rae

raeannsimpson wrote:

i freeze mine also. never heard or seen anyone put them in salads. i
have to pick all the seeds out before i can eat them cause of health
reasons, so i don't eat that often myself.

That would be tedious and not much okra would be left after seeding.
When harvested young the seeds are not very seedy (nor the pods very
slimey), they're more a gelatinous mass like very yound cucumber
seeds... and when cooked in soups and stews the seeds kind of
disintegrate. I suppose you can push raw okra through a Foley food
mill to remove the seeds, but then what would be the point, all you'd
have is green goo... kind of like shaving gel... how about an okra
facial: http://tinyurl.com/2zeme4

http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/st...2007,+12:33+PM

"Sheldon" wrote in message
oups.com...
raeannsimpson wrote:

i freeze mine also. never heard or seen anyone put them in salads. i
have to pick all the seeds out before i can eat them cause of health
reasons, so i don't eat that often myself.

That would be tedious and not much okra would be left after seeding.
When harvested young the seeds are not very seedy (nor the pods very
slimey), they're more a gelatinous mass like very yound cucumber
seeds... and when cooked in soups and stews the seeds kind of
disintegrate. I suppose you can push raw okra through a Foley food
mill to remove the seeds, but then what would be the point, all you'd
have is green goo... kind of like shaving gel... how about an okra
facial: http://tinyurl.com/2zeme4

http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/st...2007,+12:33+PM


i mainly use them in soups, so i don't have to deal with the seeds much. i
pick my okra kinda young too, as you mentioned, for that reason also. I
leave a few to mature more, and fry those on occasion for my hubby and son.
When "de-seeding" last year, i got smarter than the year b4 and took a knife
with a small thin blade, cut the top off, and just used the knife to kinda
core the okra out. left more okra and less mess too.

On Jun 20, 12:05?pm, "Rachael Simpson"
wrote:
"Sheldon" wrote in message

oups.com...





raeannsimpson wrote:

i freeze mine also. never heard or seen anyone put them in salads. i
have to pick all the seeds out before i can eat them cause of health
reasons, so i don't eat that often myself.

That would be tedious and not much okra would be left after seeding.
When harvested young the seeds are not very seedy (nor the pods very
slimey), they're more a gelatinous mass like very yound cucumber
seeds... and when cooked in soups and stews the seeds kind of
disintegrate. I suppose you can push raw okra through a Foley food
mill to remove the seeds, but then what would be the point, all you'd
have is green goo... kind of like shaving gel... how about an okra
facial: http://tinyurl.com/2zeme4

http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/st...ocus.story&STO...

i mainly use them in soups, so i don't have to deal with the seeds much. i
pick my okra kinda young too, as you mentioned, for that reason also. I
leave a few to mature more, and fry those on occasion for my hubby and son.
When "de-seeding" last year, i got smarter than the year b4 and took a knife
with a small thin blade, cut the top off, and just used the knife to kinda
core the okra out. left more okra and less mess too.

I can't imagine coring okra pods from one end, perhaps just a few but
not a potful. You could try slicing the pods lengthwise into halves,
then scrape the seeds out like deseeding a cucumber.

On Wed, 20 Jun 2007 08:24:27 -0500, perrylep wrote:
My old timer gardening buddy says when one cuts the okra from the plant to
also cut the accompanying leaf...He had no clear reason, but said "that's
what you do"...
Any merit to that practice?

Only if you're trying to slow down continued production by removing
photosynthetic area from the plant.

On Jun 20, 10:35 am, Sheldon wrote:

pickle some. I began growing okra from when I visited Belize many
years ago and saw them growing everywhere; large handsome plants with
gorgeous blossoms. Okra does best in warmer climes but they grow here
in NY too.

Yeah, they're one of my more successful crops in CT, despite failures
with normal hot weather crops like peppers, eggplants, and tomatos
other than cherry size. The funny part is my attempts to grow Hibiscus
failed, but the okra are gorgeous.