Even if you can’t stand to eat the stuff, here’s why okra deserves a place in your April gardening plan.
Photo by L.A. Jackson
The middle of April is a good time for gardeners from Columbia to the coast to begin planting okra, while backyard growers in western parts of the state can start around May 1—but why bother?
Looked upon with the same suspicion as grits by Northerners, universally hated by kids at dinnertime, and avoided by home cooks adverse to yuck, it is a wonder okra is even grown at all.
I’ll admit a plate of boiled, slimy okra doesn’t put wind in my sails, but breaded and fried—can I please have another heapin’ helping? And in our state, I do believe it is an obligatory ingredient in most stews and soups, especially gumbos.
Okra is, of course, worth including in any vegetable garden, and once plants mature, they are pod-producing machines if you pick them regularly and often. Quick tip: The best tasting, tenderest pods are usually harvested before they reach five inches long.
Want to grow okra from seed? Before you start poking around in the dirt, okra seeds are about the size of BBs—and just as hard—so, to help soften their outer coating and improve the germination rate, soak them in water overnight before planting.
An okra bed can be started with young transplants, too, but either way you choose to get growing, do pick a site that basks in the summer sun for these heat-seekers. Also, make sure the soil is well-worked and heavily amended with compost or a quality commercial soil conditioner.
Applying low-nitrogen fertilizer at planting time will get okra off to a good start, but to keep the pods coming, sling another dusting at first harvest. Finally, water at least once a week during extended stretches of dry weather.
While South Carolina’s own Clemson Spineless has been the okra standard for decades, there are many other possibilities also worth considering. For starters, gardeners limited in space might try the compact Baby Bubba or similarly restrained cultivars, including Cajun Delight, Jambalaya and Lee.
And then there are okra selections that flash visual sass. Being from the Mallow Family, okra is a rather handsome plant anyway, both in foliage and flower, but introductions such as Red Burgundy, Candle Fire and Red Velvet sporting stunning crimson stems and pods kick this veggie’s eye appeal up a few notches. Enough, in my humble opinion, to even be a worthy ornamental addition to any sunny flower border or perennial bed.
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April in the Garden
• Regular rains are naturally beneficial to any garden, but how do you know when Mother Nature provides too little, or even too much? Invest in a simple rain gauge and an easy-to-use soil moisture meter to help fine-tune your garden’s irrigation needs.
• This spring, plant forever—forever flowers, that is. So-called “everlastings,” such as strawflowers, liatris, globe thistle, yarrow, gomphrena, statice and celosia can be easily dried and hold up quite well in indoor arrangements.
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Tip of the Month
Gazing globes are attractive, eccentric additions for almost any garden, but usually being made of glass, they are fragile things. Bowling balls aren’t. So, if you have an old ball stuffed in a closet, drag it out and, if it isn’t already a fancy, sparkly orb, spray on a few bright coats of metal-flake, pearl, chrome or neon paint and set the indestructible gazing globe in a conspicuous cranny in the landscape. Have a talent for painting and creating crafts? Like whimsy? Transform that unused bowling ball into a one-of-a-kind work of fun garden art.
L.A. Jackson is the former editor of Carolina Gardener magazine. Contact him at lajackson1@gmail.com.