Oh boy, it’s Okra!
Experimenting in the garden is a family pastime. We try to plant new things each year. This year we planted okra. Now, I am an Ohio girl a.k.a. a NORTHERN girl who has never tasted okra. I did not grow up eating Cajun food, or good Southern cooking, which included okra. I have read about how to cook it and use it, but this will be the year that I try.
However, I am writing to you today because I think that
people should start to look at okra in another way. It is beautiful! According to the University of Illinois
Extension website the plant is from the same plant family as hibiscus,
hollyhock and Rose of Sharon. Our plants
grew to be approximately three-to-four feet high. The blossoms are off-white
with scarlet veins. It is a very “showy”
plant with good structure and leaves.
Growing okra is like having my own sculpture garden. The finial shaped pods reach toward the sun
and provide a bulky contrast to the blooms.
The branches are thick and well-spaced, allowing you to see both the
blooms and the vegetables. I have always
interspersed flowers and vegetables in my gardens. We call it edible landscaping. Rosalind Creasy coined that term and we love
it!
As sculptural as okra is, I plan to dry it for holiday
arrangements. The pods seem to be
cracking open to disperse seeds so I am trying different methods. Some pods are outside, drying in a shaded
area. Others are inside drying away from
the sunlight. The pods I put in the dehydrator on a low temperature seem to be
working the best. They have not cracked
and are holding their color and shape.
Once they are dried I plan on painting them for ornaments and garlands. Maybe that will be a holiday blog?
Learn more about growing okra at the links below and enjoy your own edible
sculpture garden!
Learn more about okra:
No comments:
Post a Comment