Okra uses.

The dried pods can be sold for flower arrangements.

None of our animals would touch the stuff and we don't eat it either.

I LOVE okra pickles. Had them once at my step-brother's Grandma's. Awesome, crispy, delicious. She's gone, nobody has her recipe..... Sure wish I could find out how she made them so crisp!
Shrek, I love that seed idea!

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We love okra. Myself, fried and maybe just a little in soup but my DH loves it boiled, with tomatoes and any other way. I cannot stomach boiled okra. It is a member of the same family as hibiscus. We have a plant that grows wild here that looks just like an okra plant with the same bloom.

What do the seeds taste like? I'd love trying them in a soup!

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Okra & tomatoes is a summer staple at my house. We use okra in gumbo, fry it, pickle it and don't cook a pot of field peas without laying a few pods on top.

It's good stuff!

dry the pods and paint them to make santa christmas tree ornaments. Like this:
http://www.nchandcrafts.com/okrasanta.html

Thanks guys but as I said we dont have any interest in using them for human consumption in anyway shape or form.

The ornament idea is kinda cool but we dont celebrate holidays so I wouldnt bother using them for that.


My SIL will like the seeds to add to her gardens. So they wont go to waste.

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My site.

Here's something you must try! I learned it from a family member and I can't get enough okra when I cook it this way. Cut your okra young, around 3" long, trim the stem end off and cut the okra in half so you have two 1 1/2" peices. After you prepare as much as you want to eat, put a dollop of butter on top and pop it the the microwave for about a 1 1/2 minutes. Take it out and stir and pop it back in for another 1 1/2 minutes. When done add a little salt and pepper, stir it all up and enjoy. If you don't overcook it, it will still have a little crunch and it's not slimy like boiled. It's also good with a little garlic salt. MMMMM!

Cindy

One downside to okra is that it is extremely high in cholesterol due to it being fried. So bad that my dad's heart doc told him he could have them only ONCE a year! I dislike the stuff so I have no other comment,lol.

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I brown it in the pan with butter when I am too lazy to bread and fry it. I like mine almost burnt that way but everyone else likes theirs just brown.

Last fall our goats ate all the leaves off of our okra. They didn't touch it in the spring. If you have goats see if they will eat it, especially come fall.

Also when I looked it up last year I was surprised to find that you can use the young okra for fibers.
Accordinging to Wikipedia okra leaves may be eaten like beet greens or dandilions.
And this website says you can make rope or paper from it:
http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants....hus+esculentus

In nearly a half century of trying, I've yet to find a way of cooking okra that wasn't good. I love it fried, boiled, stewed, and pickled. I haven't tried eating the seeds with beans, but you can rest assured I will. If I had a microwave, I'd try Critter Keeper's recipe too.

Next time you're frying your okra, try mixing in a little Cajun seasoning in the corn meal.

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The slime is your friend... it'll bind everything else together.

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Sorry to be so long in responding -- have been away. I wasn't all that impressed with okra as coffee substitute, but then again, I'm a coffee snob. Mixed half and half with the real stuff it wasn't bad.

Here's an article you might be interested in:
http://www.backyardnature.net/n/04/041031.htm

If you don't like gumbo, you haven't ever had it made right! Gum BO! That there's good stuff now! FYI, if you cook the gumbo in a hot enough pan, for long enough, with just a touch of flour and oil (called roux, I think - maybe reaux - can't remember how to spell it, but it sounds like row.) the slimy stuff goes away. Find a good cajun recipe for gumbo... They know how to do it right! I never liked okra until my cajun neighbor showed me how to cook them and make the slimy part go away. Now I love it!

Yea, try some gumbo - REAL gumbo - before you give up on it. :-)

Cindyc.

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I bought some heirloom okra seeds and the package said that the okra could be eaten raw as a snack--open up the pod and eat the slime and the seeds for a "refreshing snack."

That is what the package says.

Ya'll let me know how that turns out.

Do you mean rue? Ive seen it made wiht flour and melted butter.

A guy I was in the marine corps with was form Louisianna. I went to his home one time, and had...I think it was catfish gumbo. The cook must not have put much seaosning in it because it tasted kinda flat. Not bad. Just not very zesty.

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