It interests me to introduce this amazingly beautiful vegetable plant to you, my friends. Because of the beauty of this plant, people who are not conversant with it, may think it to be some kind of ornamental plants, but no, it's indeed a vegetable plant, and a very nutritious one at that.
It is called the Okra plant, the pods of which is very rich in many essential vitamins and other important nutrients. Okra, (Hibiscus esculentus) is an important vegetable in Nigeria and other parts of the world where it is cultivated for it's highly muscilaginous pods. These pods are harvested before maturity, when they have reached certain sizes, depending on the variety of okra in question, and are either used fresh or processed into dry forms which can keep for several months.
For those of us, who have interest in this amazing vegetable plant, I will like to take you through the simple process of growing okra from 'seed to soup'. Are you ready?? Let's get started already!🤓
Okra plants are propagated by seeds which are gotten from mature pods, probably from the previous cropping season. To get the seeds out of the dry pods, the pods are broken and the seeds are collected in a small container.
Sorting or cleaning may be done to remove deformed or immature seeds.
Prepare your seed beds and get ready to sow your seeds. Make sure your soil is moist enough at the time of sowing to facilitate easy germination.
Two seeds are often sown per stand, to prevent overcrowding and a spacing of 30cm or more should be maintained between the plants, depending on the cultivar. Smaller varieties may require less inter and intra-row spacing but the larger varieties as the one in my pictures require more spacing.
Weeding may be required at 2-3 weeks after sowing to avoid unnecessary competition from weeds.
There is a short cultivar that matures early, (about 40 days after sowing), but the bigger cultivars may take up to 3 months. But of course, the larger ones yields more!
Soon after flowering, the immature pods are ready for harvest. It important to know the exact time to harvest, because, the more mature the pods gets, the more fibrous they become, making them unpalatable. Normally, harvesting is done every 3-4 days.
The freshly harvested pods may either be chopped or crushed and used immediately to prepare soup or they can be sliced and sun-dried, as a way of preservation. When it is fully dried, it can then be milled into powder and used whenever it is needed.
This method is particularly useful during the dry season, when fresh okra is limited supply.
Knowing how to grow your own veggies is very important these days, because it affords you the opportunity of being sure of what you are eating, and I'm sure you know very well that healthy eating is the father of healthy living. May you be healthy all your life.
Thanks for reading, commenting and upvoting. God bless you real good.