How does your Okra grow?

Each planting season we have found fruits and vegetables that succeed and those that don't. Along with eggplant, green beans, carrots, snap peas, beets, tomatoes, strawberries and butternut squash, okra is a prolific plant here in the Austin area climate. I had never even seen an okra plant before my husband decided he wanted to try growing some. They sprout up into tall thick stalks with fruit growing skyward out of pale yellow flowers.

Some people shy away from okra because of the mucilage it contains. But the mucilage can be good in certain dishes for thickening things. Okra is often an ingredient in gumbo. If you don't like to see tiny strands of so called "slime" in your okra it's not hard to avoid. You can cook the okra whole to minimize it or if sliced, cook it off. I made okra curry recently and sauteed sliced okra until the goo was gone.  It's a healthy fruit containing soluble fiber, vitamin C and folate. Here is an article touting the benefits of okra.