Okra.
We are all about okra at our house right now. We planted it when we started our garden, Memorial Day weekend. The okra matures and starts producing at about 50 to 65 days, it then continues to produce for the next 10 to 12 weeks.
It just started producing. The first frost is due October 10th in our area, so we should be able to get okra until then! Each plant produces about 5 to 6 okra at a time so far. We are waiting for them to grow big enough to keep picking them right now. It has been in the 70's here the last week since they started producing and okra thrives in the heat. This coming week it is back up in the 80's which should help them grow faster again.
So far we have only added it to Indian food to help thicken it, thanks to okras thickening properties.
Okra has a lot of other awesome benefits.
Okra is rich in nutrients. Including vitamin C and magnesium.
Okra contains powerful, beneficial antioxidants. It contains polyphenols that improve heart and brain health.
The gel-like substance that is associated with okra binds to cholesterol in your body and helps your body excrete it in stool rather than letting it become absorbed into your blood stream which helps lower your cholesterol.
Some doctors have suggested it may prevent cancer growth because of the lectin contained in this delicious vegetable.
Okra may lower blood sugar which can help overall health. Eating okra is associated with a decreased sugar absorption.
Okra is high in folate which is beneficial to pregnant women, and helpful for women trying to conceive. A cup of okra provides 15% of a woman's daily requirements.
Okra is very easy to add to your diet. It can be added to almost anything without changing the flavor.
We currently have 7 plants of okra, which look like tiny trees and blossom beautiful flowers that then turn into cute little okra that peak out and grow quickly.
Next year we plan to plant 20 plants so we have a higher yield.
I love pickled okra and would love to have enough to pickle them next year. This year I don't think we will get enough to pickle them. We are only getting about 2 okra every 3 days which is not enough to pickle them and only enough to cook a few.
I also love fried okra and hope that we will soon get a high enough yield to warrant the trouble of frying the slices. We want to have at least 5 or 6 okra to fry up before wasting the oil and batter.
I just love the texture of okra, even when tender it still has a nice crunchier texture than most other vegetables.
We have mostly just been adding those few okra sliced thin into dishes we have been cooking. Finding that they help thicken the dish and cook tender quickly.
I would also like to make a new gumbo dish that includes the okra since it has the thickening properties.
I would also like to try cooked okra halved lengthwise with tomatoes and onion and apple cider vinegar and garlic for a light, healthy side dish.
I find that we can get frozen okra at our local super-center grocery store, but I don't think they sell fresh okra anywhere.
After our plants die back after the first frost I will try to buy some frozen okra to keep it in our diet. Okra and zucchini are my two favorite vegetables. They are so versatile and we can make so much with them.
My husband and I are southerners at heart. We eat like we live in the south most of the time.
I fell in love with Mississippi when we were on a road trip last year. Both my husband and I fell in love with Montgomery, Alabama. We spent the day there sightseeing. One of our favorite things was Chris's Hot Dog Stand downtown.
We hope to retire in either Jackson, Mississippi or Montgomery, Alabama because of the slow pace of life and even though they are big cities, they have a much smaller feel than our hometown. We have a lot of traffic here and it's always busy. It was so slow and relaxed in Jackson, Mississippi.
We could grow all the okra we desire down there and have such a beautiful garden. I lived under the idea that I would not like the south, because I always associated it with the confederacy, but after our trip last year I feel much differently.
But my husband is a licensed CPA under the state we live in, so moving states wouldn't be so easy for us. I also miss my childhood hometown everyday so being even further would be hard. Right now we live about 15 minutes from his parents, nice for visiting them.
My parents are in a different state but they are only 4 hours away, which is also comforting for our plans to start a family.
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