|
Post by glen on Oct 2, 2018 17:23:45 GMT -6
I knew Panamanians grew coffee okra for hot beverage making. I did not know that they still actually did this. But, I am told that they still do.
|
|
|
Post by glen on Oct 2, 2018 17:32:10 GMT -6
A few posts earlier I did mention most of what I know now on Coffee okra. There are a few different sub-variety's of coffee okra. I have not seen all of them. I have seen at least 2. The AfricanX okra is really a sub-variety of coffee okra as the DNA of AfricanX okra is more coffee okra than anything else. African okra is the dominant gene though. The leaves look very much like coffee okra leaves. With the exception of the red vein in the leaves and the reddish tint in the branches and pods. Coffee okra pods are the most beautiful I have ever seen. They have classic okra lines and are totally green and huge like Cowhorn okra, maybe even larger. AfricanX pods are short and fat and are assymetrical or ovoid in shape. AfricanX okra compliments coffee okra, its not meant to replace it.
I suggest that you go back to the Sept 25th post for more information on coffee okra.
|
|
|
Post by glen on Oct 2, 2018 17:35:19 GMT -6
I hope Ron can have a little success producing some seed. Coffee okra is a very late season okra. Ron, please keep us informed.
|
|
|
Post by heavyhitterokra on Oct 2, 2018 20:21:11 GMT -6
The coffee okra pods are only about 2 and 1/2" inches long right now. The plants are just now getting started and some are as tall as I am. With our crazy weather, I don't know if it will make it until November. Who knows? Some years we don't get frost until Thanksgiving, some years we get a frost in the first week of October. Tomorrow is forecast to be 90 degrees. A week ago, it was 45 at night and 65 for a high during the day. This has been a year of extremes.
|
|
|
Post by glen on Oct 2, 2018 20:41:29 GMT -6
Coffee okra is like any okra. It is condition dependant. Your conditions have not been right for this okra. If it was, it would be much taller than you right now. I have coffee okra growing in the yard. It came up as volunteers. Most of it started out last May. Some of it is mixed in with volunteer AfricanX okra also. It all really looks the same. None of it has started producing any okra. Not even the AfricanX okra. The conditions for this okra are so poor that they are not looking good and no okra has been produced. I have ferrel AfricanX okra growing all over the neighbors yard. Its a vacant house and lot. I just thru the seed over onto his property. It is growing in the weeds. I don't know why but most of that okra is just covered over with pods. They are short plants, only about 3 or 4 feet tall. Living in poverty. But, for whatever reason they are covered over in pods. Coffee okra, if you pamper it will grow huge. It has to be hot out Ron. No cool weather. Water it and fertilize it. Those coffee okra plants will get 12 tall at least. Monsters.
|
|
|
Post by glen on Oct 2, 2018 20:50:53 GMT -6
On Thursday I meet with a PeaceCorps Representative to give them 3 thousand AfricanX seeds. This is the wrong time of the year to be planting this okra. However, maybe a few people will be interested in planting. I am producing fresh seed now and will supply them with seed in 2019 as well if they need or want it. This is good news for AfricanX okra. Now, its not going to be easy to convince Panamanians to plant this okra. I know from experience. They do not eat the pods. Its not a Panamanian thing. Period. So, if only a few people actually grow this okra I will be very excited. And, this is the wrong time of the year to plant. The correct time of year is May. Right before the monsoon rains come. People here don't have water to use in irrigation. Especially those people that the PeaceCorps helps. I personally plan to plant some dry season okra just for experimentation. But, I have plenty of water also. I have lived here long enough to know that when the dry season visits here everything dies. Except the hardiest of plant life. Okra is hardy, but not that hardy. It needs irrigation.
|
|
|
Post by glen on Oct 2, 2018 20:57:34 GMT -6
This is a seed saving project. I am now producing 2019 seed. I am not really purposefully saving it. When I cut okra I squeeze the pods at the base if they look a little fat. You can tell if the pod is not tender with a little experience. I leave the pod on the plant if it fails the squeeze test. Right now, there is almost 30 dried pods on top of the fridge curing. Every couple of days there is a few more pods added. Soon I am going to have to find a bigger spot to cure the pods. I will save as many pods as I get. The seed will stay in the pods for about another month. No need to rush into shucking the pods. I should have thousands of seeds to give away for the 2019 season. If I can find folks to take them that is. Thanx to John Douglas in Penonome I have given quite a few seeds away. The timing is not right but that is ok. A start is a start. If by some miracle the demand for this seed is more than I can handle, I will just eat less and save more seed. I typically have been cutting 30 pods in one day which could have been left on the plants to produce seeds. I have the capacity to produce many thousands of seeds. I just don't have the demand for the seed yet. Maybe some day?
|
|
|
Post by macmex on Oct 3, 2018 5:50:23 GMT -6
I need to get another photo, but my AfricanX okra is now taller than me and very bushy. One plant has a central stalk as big around as my arm. By the way, I counted them. I have 18 plants. The row is probably over 30' long. I don't measure when I plant and am a terrible judge of distance. I would note that AfricanX pods dry down much more rapidly than conventional okra. They are also thinner walled and easier to shuck seed from.
It's my habit, when picking okra, to snack on raw pods as I do. AfricanX pods are still delicious raw, but they do have a bitter, acidic bite to them when I first take a bite of them. Once I get started, it doesn't bother me. When cooked, there is no bite at all. They're just plain good.
Another striking difference between AfricanX and conventional okra, is that at this time of year conventional okra is struggling to stay alive. I think part of the problem is the cooler nights and part is due to shortening of day length. AfricanX, however, seems to thrive in these conditions. I will surely grow both this and a conventional variety in the future, thus extending our okra season. I will have to grow conventional okra too, as AfricanX simply didn't want to produce until August.
The row of AfricanX, in my garden is truly striking. People driving down the road probably notice it for its lush growth. I bet some wonder what it is, not recognizing that it's okra.
Even closer to the road, I have a row of Barksdale Wax Pole Beans. Not that's striking! The lush green foliage contrasts beautifully with the really large yellow pods. I have finally figured out how to make this bean a high producer in our climate: just plant at the end of July. It is a true fall bean, not producing much until fall. But now, I could get all my snap beans from that one row. Picking is so easy, as the pods are really large (8"X1") and bright yellow.
|
|
|
Post by glen on Oct 3, 2018 14:52:30 GMT -6
George, your plants are doing very well. Even better than mine. The problem in my climate now is the over abundance of rain. What I can say though that in my rainy climate, many other veggy's don't do well. AfricanX okra isn't as robust this year as other years but I am still getting a nice okra harvest and the quality is still good. I think I have one plant only with a huge central stalk like you are talking about. Pods are beginning to show more reddish tinting now. However, when cooked the color just changes to the normal green coloring. I totally understand why you would want to grow some zeebest okra along with your AfricanX okra. Those 2 types of okra would make nice companions. You will notice that the zeebest okra will bloom earlier in the morning than AfricanX, reducing the chances of any additional crossing. Zeebest okra tastes different. Its the texture mostly that is different. You will get a nice early crop of zeebest okra before the main AfricanX okra comes in, giving you a full Summer worth of okra eating. Now you know why they call A esculentus okra early season okra, and A Caillie late season okra. The ultimate late season okra how ever, is coffee okra, which takes a full 4 or 5 months for harvesting to start, making it impractical to grow in Oklahoma. George, I think you are blessed with fertile soil. I am sure that people wonder what in the heck you have growing in your yard? They might even call the police someday on ya. Oh, we would like to see a foto of those wax pole beans also. Sounds very enticing.
|
|
|
Post by glen on Oct 3, 2018 15:00:30 GMT -6
George, please save plenty of seed from that giant specimen. That would be a nice plant to save seed from to send to Echo. This will ensure that the quality of the seed is first class and gives us a better shot at them continuing to grow it in the future. They may not continue to grow AfricanX okra, but this variety does demonstrate or give a clue where okra breeding can take us. There is plenty of work left to be done with okra breeding if someone wants to take the ball and run with it. Almost nothing has been done in this regard with tropical okra anyways. In Panama for example, people don't even eat okra. I have no idea why but it is a huge obstacle in the way of AfricanX becoming a popular food item in folks homes. Its so easy to grow. Why not make use of it?
|
|
|
Post by macmex on Oct 4, 2018 10:04:29 GMT -6
Here are two photos of Barksdale Wax Pole. Sometimes the camera doesn't capture the real yellow of the pods.
|
|
|
Post by glen on Oct 4, 2018 15:22:47 GMT -6
Those vines are very impressive George, thanx a bunch for sharing them with us. The second foto has a lot of glare on the pods but what an impressive planting? I love it. Right now, the only planting I have other than okra to brag about is my Malabar spinach. I don't know that much about Malabar spinach but I am learning. It loves the rainy season. I can say that. I have been making cuttings and planting them in more pots and they quickly sprout shoots and make new plants. We literally cannot produce enough Malabar spinach for the kitchen. If we have enough to eat it twice in one day, we fight over it. Its just so tasty. And, when conditions are right, it seems like the easiest plant in the world to grow. Our spinach vines have not gone to seed yet. I am not sure exactly how the cycle runs. I plan to save every seed I can get. I know nothing about saving seeds from Malabar spinach but I have learned that the seed doesn't last that long. You have to save it, but also get it planted as soon as possible in preparation for the upcoming rainy season. Its not Barksdale Wax pole beans, but its at least something green to add to my diet.
|
|
|
Post by glen on Oct 4, 2018 15:31:48 GMT -6
Ok, this has been an extremely wet rainy season with very little sun over the entire last 5 months. Today I passed by a house where I usually see Coffee okra growing. Usually the okra is 10 to 15 feet tall and is over-grown with pods this time of year. Well, this year there are plants but they are dwarfs. Most of the leaves haved dropped off the specimans and I do not see any pods. So, this year has not been kind to coffee okra. Plants look like they are no taller than 5 to 6 feet tall. The plants are about 5 to 6 months old and still are not producing any okra to speak of. Plants need sun. Obviously they are getting plenty of rain. This explains why my okra is not as robust and fat and tall as they were last year. Its not my fault. It is natures fault. AfricanX okra still produces plenty of okra in this horrid rainy season. The plants are now beginning to wind down now in my conditions. I need to let more pods stay on the plants now to produce more seed and I need to start now. This year, the plants are going to peter out quicker than last year. There is not enough sun this year and it has taken its toll on the okra. By the way, the Malabar spinach likes the over-cast sky's. The okra hates it. And, the mildew get's on the leaves and kills the leaves and forces the plant to shed leaves faster than in drier years. My plants have no leaves now from about 3 quarters of the way up on the plant, down to the ground. Its been a rough year. Plants don't have the energy now to regrow any of the lost greenery.
|
|
|
Post by glen on Oct 4, 2018 15:36:52 GMT -6
The first 2 plants in the row have been attacked by cutter ants. These are for the most part naked plants. I killed the cutter ants with a pesticide and they were easy to control. It has been a few weeks since I treated. None of the lost foilage is beging replaced by the plants. The central stalk on one plant is finished producing as you can see no new calyx being formed. This plant is on the decline. The branches are still forming a few pods. This okra is doing the best it can in the conditions. I am not worried. I will have many more browned off seed pods forming in the next few weeks. I should have thousands of seed saved this season for the 2019 season. Today I gave away 3000 seeds to a PeaceCorps representative and I promised them more if they needed it.
|
|
|
Post by heavyhitterokra on Oct 4, 2018 19:37:25 GMT -6
What a great photo of the beans, George. You wouldn't believe how many times I go through this site in Winter, looking at the photos you've posted of the veggies growing during the height of the gardening season.
My African-X Okra is absolutely loving this crazy hot, 90 degree October weather!
|
|