Fun with Okra: Round 2

You didn’t really think I could fit all the fun okra facts into one blog post did you!?

The last time I talked about okra was almost a month ago. Since then, my first planting of squash and cucumbers have stopped producing and the next planting is finishing up. My first planting of tomatoes has come and gone. The few winter squash that we planted have produced and died out. The first planting of cantaloupe is done producing. There is, however, one thing in the garden that just will not quit… Any guesses on what it is?

That’s right! We are still steadily picking okra every single day. In the spirit of the okra that will not quit, I come to you with even more fun facts about this goofy, fascinating plant.

I’m sure many of you have had okra that was too long and was a little, tiny bit hard to chew; as in get the chainsaw to cut it… Actually, when it gets to that stage it is officially ripe. We eat okra while it is still premature. Okra pods grow at a very rapid rate. They can become that mature, tough, very long pod that nobody wants in a matter of days. That means that we have to pick every single day to make sure only the best (chewable) okra reaches your dinner table.

Picking okra is no “pick-nic” either (sorry…). Anyone who has ever handled okra knows that the plant and the pod are both covered in tiny barbs. I was used to handling peaches from working on another farm and thought okra couldn’t possibly be worse than peach fuzz getting all over you. I was wrong… Fuzz and barbs are very different beasts. Fuzz is easy to brush and wash off because it just sits on your skin. Barbs, however, stick into you, your clothes, your hat, your gloves (which you should most definitely wear), and just about anything else they can. Then when you touch anything that has those little barbs stuck into it, they are now stuck into you and begin itching like nothing else. You can’t brush them away because they will then stick into your hand and cause more itching. See the issue here? We have to wear long sleeves, long pants, gloves and hats when picking the okra to avoid running to the shower to get all those barbs out of us (which doesn’t always work either).

It might seem like okra really doesn’t want to be picked or eaten. Too bad, it has a TON of nutritional and health benefits! You know that “slime” the okra produces when it’s cooked? It’s actually soluble fiber. If you can’t stand the cardboard taste and texture of your fiber cereal in the morning, just eat some okra!

Raw okra is 90% water, 2% protein, 7% carbohydrates and negligible in fat. That’s right, a vegetable with protein. In a 100 gram amount, raw okra has over 20% of your daily needs in dietary fiber, vitamin C and vitamin K, with moderate contents of thiamin, folate and magnesium. I’m not sure what all of those nutrients are, but they sound good for you!

Okra seeds produce an oil when they are pressed. Actually they produce a lot of oil. About 40% of the seed’s volume is oil! The only seed that produces more oil are sunflower seeds. This oil, aside from greasing pans and frying up goodies, can actually be used as a biofuel! Maybe someday you and your car will run on okra. Apparently the seeds can even be roasted and ground to make a caffeine-free substitute for coffee! What can’t this plant do?

Get to know your farm!