Okra Varieties and Uses
The previous entry discussed growing okra in the home garden, today’s post takes a look at a few great okra varieties for the home gardener, along with ideas for preparing and cooking these delicious home grown pods.
Unique Okra Varieties for the Home Garden
If you enjoy growing heirloom vegetables, planting okra will provide many opportunities to grow more than just the routine Clemson Spineless types of okra. Other interesting okra varieties include the following:
- Red Burgundy – Four foot tall plants with six to eight inch maroon pods, some of the color even extends into the plant’s leaves and stems.
- Silver Queen Okra – Tall six foot plants produce tender pale whitish-green pods.
- Star of David – This Israeli heirloom grows pods that have a very unique shape and strong flavor from okra plants reaching up to seven feet.
- Alabama Red - A heirloom okra originating from the state of Alabama produces unusual fat red pods.
- Cow Horn – This giant okra variety can grow eight feet tall and supply the cook with large yields of slender pods reaching ten inches in length without becoming woody.
- Louisiana Short – A prolific producer of tasty and extremely plump six-inch pods.
- Hill Country Heirloom Red – This okra variety is a Texas heirloom with attractive reddish-green pods.
- Burmese Okra – An early yielder, this heirloom from Burma will continue producing pods for the kitchen until fall frosts arrive.
- Jade – High yields of early maturing dark green okra pods on four foot tall plants.
- Emerald – Early, unique smooth-round pods, this may be the okra variety that my grandfather grew years ago in his Southern Maryland garden.
Preparing and Cooking Home Grown Okra
Okra is shunned by some because of the slimy nature of the cut pods after they are cooked. While this mucilaginous character has been linked to some of the health promoting properties of this nutritious vegetable, if that’s prevented you from enjoying okra you’ll be happy to discover that there are ways to prepare it that reduce or eliminate that slimy consistency.
Cooking the smaller pods whole, eliminates the need for any cutting and will automatically reduce the gelatinous effect in any recipe. Adding small quantities of cut okra pods to soups or stews containing other vegetables and liquids will also reduce the unpleasant stickiness, as will the acid from vinegar that is added to a dish during preparation.
For the youngest and smallest tender pods you can skip the cooking altogether. The raw pods can be enjoyed as finger food, or can be cut into pieces and tossed into a fresh vegetable salad.
Gumbo, a Classic Recipe Featuring Okra
Okra is one of the essential ingredients that set gumbo apart from an ordinary pot of soup and is a must have for cooking any authentic gumbo recipe. Another favorite southern okra recipe is to slice the pods crosswise into sections which are then breaded and deep fried.
For a much healthier alternative steam or boil the pods, or prepare stews, soups, and casseroles including okra with a variety of other fresh vegetables. Okra is especially good when cooked along with tomatoes or tomato sauces, which will also serve to eliminate any slimy aftereffects.
If you had given up on okra maybe it’s time to give it another try. Regardless of how you choose to prepare them, growing a selection of okra varieties in the home garden will supply you with plenty of fresh pods throughout the gardening season to include in some of your favorite recipes.
Other Related Vegetable Gardening Posts:
September 29th, 2006 at 4:01 pm
Hi, Kenny, just wanted to let you know I have been visiting the site. Obviously too late for me to do anything this year, but I am gearing up for next year.
January 8th, 2007 at 10:12 pm
Hey!!! Just found your website after doing some gardening and seed research for the upcoming 2007 Summer growing season. I am seriously fascinated by the idea of growing red okra (red burgundy) as well as giant yet tender okray pods (cowhorn). CANT WAIT!!! Okra definitely a favorite vegetable, and Gumbo freezes exceptionally well (just had some on this chilly january night—tastes garden fresh!!!). Happy Gardening to you and yours!!!
Gary
January 8, 2007
February 8th, 2007 at 11:00 am
Where can I buy, borrow or steal seeds of the Star of David giant okra? I live on the northeast side of San Antoni, TX. Failin that , where can I get any giant okra seeds ….Please Help…..Jesse Molina, SA, TX
February 14th, 2007 at 12:58 pm
Hi Jesse, Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds carries Star of David and a large variety of other unusual and hard to find varieties of okra seeds.
February 27th, 2007 at 5:31 pm
If I grow heirloom okra can I just let some of the pods dry out and then collect the seed or is there a special proceedure for saving okra seed?
February 28th, 2007 at 12:54 am
Sure you can save the seeds of your okra plants by letting the pods mature and dry out. Different varieties of okra can cross pollinate though, so if you grow more than one kind of heirloom okra you’ll need to figure out a method to isolate the blossoms if you want to keep the seed true to type.
June 29th, 2007 at 9:52 pm
We’ve had great luck with Alabama Red Okra in our garden in Tennessee. It is beautiful and grows well in poor soil conditions.
Here is our crop: Alabama Red Okra
October 1st, 2007 at 12:46 pm
Wondering if there is a variety that grows on vines – my Mom got some from Tennesee with 10 ribs – 8-10 inch long but still tender – the giver said grown on vines not stalks. Any info is appreciated.
October 1st, 2007 at 10:13 pm
Laura, I’ve heard of okra varieties that yield long pods on seven or eight foot tall plants, but I have never heard of an okra variety that produces vines rather than stalks.
March 5th, 2008 at 8:48 am
Hi Jessie Molina, Reimer Seeds (P.O. Box 236; Mount Holly, N.C. 28120-0236) carries Star of David okra seeds and many other okra varieties. I just bought 2 pkgs. of Star of David okra on 2/13/2008. [$2.50 per package plus shipping ($5.75)]
June 23rd, 2008 at 7:11 am
What other products can we derive from okras aside from oils?? reply pls.. the answer is super needed. Please just email to my address then that’s ok! Thanks a lot.
June 27th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
I live in Southern MD too!! This is the first year of my garden and I sowed the okra from seed. When everything else started growing in May, the okra seeds did nothing. So I bought some okra seedlings from a farm (dont know the variety)and they are growing great. Now my seeds sprouted and I have Okra plants everywhere. I might have better success if I use the variety your Grandfather grew. Do you know where I could buy your Grandfather’s Southern MD variety?
June 27th, 2008 at 1:38 pm
Sorry Tina, but unfortunately I have no idea of the identity of the okra that my grandfather used to grow in Southern MD… I really wish that I did know what it was. If you want to try some different okra varieties check out Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds or a group such as the Seed Savers Organization.
March 4th, 2009 at 2:18 pm
Hey, thought I’d throw my two cents in here…on Laura’s question. What she’s probly talking about are Angle Gourds, which are called vine okra in my area. You can find a good selection of them thru Baker Creek at http://www.rareseeds.com, we LOVE them.
.
Love your site! I will be here ALOT. You did forget to mention pickled okra tho…
March 21st, 2009 at 4:20 pm
Good afternoon. I would like to know which species of okra would be recommended for south-west Florida growing. As you know, sandy soil great for citrus….bad for most other. The okra previously planted only made about 3 foot high with moderate pod production.
March 29th, 2009 at 1:01 pm
Hello–I would like to grow okra on my balcony in a container. How deep should the container be?
March 29th, 2009 at 11:20 pm
Rebecca, I would use a container that was at least six inches deep for growing okra, but a container that is eight to ten inches deep would be even better. Also, I would stick with the dwarf or smaller varieties of okra if they are going to be raised in a container.
April 22nd, 2009 at 3:21 am
I live in Malaysia which has hot and humid weather suitable for growing okra. where can I buy seeds to the okra you have mentioned?
May 23rd, 2009 at 8:28 am
Last year I made pickled okra using Alton Brown’s recipe. It was VERY easy. I canned in September for Christmas presents. We didn’t have ANY left a Christmas time.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/pickled-okra-recipe/index.html
June 13th, 2009 at 8:49 pm
Thanks for the great website, there are so many interesting nuggets here.
July 18th, 2009 at 6:56 am
Why do you not mention clemson spineless in your list of okra varieties, it is fairly common in East Tennessee.
July 18th, 2009 at 7:00 am
Hi Kendall, no reason other than that I often try to share some of the more uncommon varieties that are worthy of attention. I actually like the Clemson Spineless okra variety and believe that I have some growing in the garden this summer.
August 5th, 2009 at 9:26 pm
Great website. When planning my new garden (replacing part of the front lawn) here in south central PA, I planted okra on a whim. After a very slow start, it is growing like crazy and dad is looking forward to our traditional Christmas gumbo with home-grown okra. Will the okra freeze okay?
August 5th, 2009 at 10:58 pm
Hi Kim, okra will freeze just fine. Here’s a link to some good instructions about freezing garden fresh okra pods.
August 23rd, 2009 at 11:13 am
What a great site!
I planted Okra for the first time (spineless Clemson). Seed company says they’ll grow to 4-feet. Planted them in big deep containers with at least a foot of space above the soil, so the containers will support the first foot of the plants. Do I need to add some sort of structural support, or will the plants hold themselves up?
August 23rd, 2009 at 8:27 pm
Thanks Colleen, if the containers are deep enough for the okra plants to produce good root growth the plants should be able to support themselves. Okra grows upright and has a strong central stalk that usually does fine without additional support even for the tall varieties that rise over ten feet high. Your four footers should be fine, but you can always add a simple stake for insurance.
August 31st, 2009 at 3:57 pm
hi I think I also have okra growing in my back yard in ontario but seems like okras are really tiny and already start going hard meanning turning stick-ky what shall I do do I pick and eat now it is really like very tiny but if I did not it sure will turn into stick in few days.
September 29th, 2009 at 5:02 pm
We were given okra seeds with pods that are have deep groves, the pods are light green and have a wonderful taste. Does anyone know the name. The man who gave us the seeds said his family had planted and saved these seeds for over 50 years and he did not know what it was called. We planted it along with our regular okra – hope it does not cross pollinate. We love okra. We currently have over 30 bags in the freeze to carry us through the winter.