Okra plants in our kitchen garden peeking out from behind the netting like eager doggies.Growing okra is not something I expected to accomplish in Ithaca. Okra likes hot weather. We grew it in Arkansas in the mid-1970s where it's plenty hot in the summer.
We were late getting the kitchen garden planted this year because of our major renovation project on it. One weekend in June we saw some Little Lucy okra plants for sale at Blue Heron at the Ithaca Farmer's Market. Little Lucy is a dwarf red variety that is adapted to our more northern climate. The Blue Heron folk assured us they would grow well here, and grow they have! We bought four plants. I Being in the hibiscus family, they have a lovely flower. l only have a photo of a furled blossom:
The best way to cook them is to roll them in stone-ground corn meal and sautee them in a iron skillet with some nice oil. Maybe a little salt. That's it--a summer treat. They also work well as thickening in soup--classically in Louisiana gumbo. Here they are, ready to eat:
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