101 Uses For Okra

Don't let the title fool you, we're not really going to give you 101 uses for okra.  But, you might get an idea or two.

The impetus for this post is the creativity of our volunteer, Max, at the Waverly distribution.  I confess that it might be because of something I said that he started looking for letters in the okra.  But, even if it isn't because of anything I said - the fact remains - Max found letters in the okra.

101 Uses for Okra - this must be number 73?

Now, if we could find the letters for "Genuine," we'll have it all figured out.

Our thanks to Kory for sharing the picture with us.

Oddly, this would not be the first time okra was the theme of a GFF blog post.  The other was amusing to me at least.  I suspect others found it at least marginally so.

If you were looking for something more serious about okra - like how you should use it - you might have to go elsewhere.  We know you can bread it and fry it, you can pickle it and you can use it gumbo or other soups.  We know several people who just LOVE okra.  And, that's a good enough reason to grow a nice 150 foot row of it for our CSA members.

When we first decided to grow some okra, we didn't know much at all about the plants.  But, as soon as they started flowering, we thought we had some sort of mallow flower.  For example, hibiscus are also in the mallow family.  And, sure enough, okra are in the mallow family.  See, we don't ALWAYS fully research everything before we try it.

A nice hedge of okra is usually planted on the side of the pepper rows that will provide the peppers some wind protection.  Okra plants tend to be relatively tall and the stems are tough and fibrous.  While a planting of okra can help, they certainly won't prevent all wind damage to the pepper plants.  But, why not give the plants a secondary purpose if you are going to put them in anyway.  They apparently have no problem being paired up with peppers and bush beans.

There you have it!  Well, ok, maybe that was five or six uses for okra.  But, 101 sounds soooo much more impressive, doesn't it?

Well, it certainly is better than me trying to make puns about the Okra Winfrey show or the shootout at the Okra Corral with the Urp brothers and Dock Holliday.  (hey, Dock is an edible root - give me a break here!)  And, I suppose if okra was more of a mustard yellow color, you could call it ochre okra.

Ok.  Enough already, please finish your blog post human.

When in doubt, one should listen to the indoor farm manager.