Alabama Red Okra

We have found a most excellent variety of heirloom okra. This variety is called Alabama Red. The pods are as big around as a 50 cent piece and still very tender. 4 or 5 pods makes a very generous serving.

We had three 50 foot rows of okra this year. Three varieties were planted and all produced very well from August 10th through October. We picked okra every 2 or 3 days and would get 1-3 boxes of nice produce each picking.

Here again is the Alabama Red. The okra is 8 feet tall and growing. It finally reached over 10 feet and to harvest pods you had to bend over the plant to reach the top. This is the only disadvantage – it grows very tall.

The distinctive red stem is very pretty. Ours bloomed continuously for three months. The blooms were always full of bees. Mostly honey bees but always there are bumble bees too. Walking down the rows in mid-morning was always a buzz. I saw no pest insect damage.

The pods were really gorgeous. This large pod is too big too eat. The other is perfectly tender. As the pods ripen they turn more red.

Another variety was Stewart Zeebest. This variety also produced well all summer. The pods are much smaller in diameter and round. The flavor was excellent. In our favorite recipe – fried okra and tomato – this variety was a bit dry. The red okra was much juicer while still being browned and crunchy. It would make a great pickled okra as its pods are narrow and straight.

The last variety we planted was Burmese Okra. It had a somewhat unpleasant smell. It cooked up nicely but that unfamiliar flavor just didn’t work. The pods were long and had very few spines which was nice. At the end of the season a mildew infested this variety. The dark green leaves turned pale green-gray. We did have a fairly damp summer, but still we wont plant Burmese again.