Okra or Gumbo

OKRA or Gumbo” – A tall, African, tropical annual herb (Hibiscus esculentus) whose long, ribbed pods are used, while green and tender, for thickening soups, ketchups and stews, or as a vegetable. They may be canned, dried, or used fresh. The fully formed, but unripe, seeds of larger pods may be shelled and cooked like peas.

As the plants have large, striking leaves and handsome yellow, red-centered blossoms of typical hibiscus form, they may be used as ornamentals in the flower garden or the front of the shrubbery border.

Okra thrives in any well-drained, good garden soil in full sunlight and with clean culture.

The seeds tend to rot in wet soil, so good drainage is essential; as the plants are sensitive to frost the weather must be settled before they are started. They are hard to transplant unless started in flower pots, which should be done a month before it is safe to set them outdoors. Outdoors sow seed an inch deep. Rows for tall varieties should be 24 to 36 in. apart ; for dwarfs 18 in. The tall plants should stand 30 in. asunder ; the shorter ones, 15 in.

The powdery mildew common on phlox occasionally infects okra, and a fusarium wilt causes yellowing and death. With a view to avoiding disease grow seedlings in uninfected seed beds and plant them in clean soil. The spinach aphid and the corn ear worm (see coax) may feed on okra.

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