Wednesday, June 10, 2015

Okra (Ladies Fingers) & Belimbing : From garden to table

Okra plant is very easy to grow. I have grown them a number of times before. The okra can be harvested in less than 3 months from date of sowing. I sowed six okra seeds on 13th March, and now I have six plants growing in my potted garden, all the seeds germinated and now are producing okras daily. I harvested the first okra about a week ago, and have been harvesting about 2 okra everyday. 



The flower is really lovely, hard to imagine that okras are from these flowers! 


 The growing okra, see the drying petal of the flower still on the tip.


Lovely healthy okra, homegrown with no pesticide whatsoever. The plants are really hardy and so far I have no problem of any bugs or plant pests.


Harvested 5 okras from this plant alone! Note : Okras are best harvested at 3-4 days. Yup, 3-4 days old. Once the flowers start to produce the okra, they grow really quick, in a matter of a few days! So it is advisable to harvest them when they are 3 to 4 days old. This is the time when they are at their best, tender and delicious. They turned hard and old really quickly, and this could happen overnight!


 More okras, this will be perfect to be harvested in two days time.


 My okra harvest.

I have been harvesting about 2 okras daily and I kept them in a zip lock bag, store them in the fridge for about a week, until I have enough to make a dish.



 Harvested some belimbings too! 


What's for dinner tonight?

Sambal Belimbing Chicken and Stir-Fry Okra with Dried Prawns. 

The okras are young and tender, and tasted delicious!



Happy Gardening !


12 comments:

  1. Hi Joyce! Wow how nice to have fresh harvest of ladies fingers. And your harvest of belimbing is bountiful! I love it with sambal belacan. Your last photo is making me hungry hah..hah...

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  2. Yummy dishes! Never ate belimbing with chicken ! Must be very tasty! ;)

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  3. My father has a lot of okra plants. I'm happy I found your blog. I love gardening.

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  4. i'm so jealous of your green thumb! i'm struggling in maintaining my little balcony garden. all i can harvest right are ginger and green onions.

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  5. Heart heart heart! Good job!! I really like that okra pic with the drying petals! And those belimbings... wow! Keep growing, girl :-D

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  6. Love your beautiful vegetables
    i am planting okras now but where do you get those belimbing seeds? What is it called in english?

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  7. Love your beautiful vegetables
    i am planting okras now but where do you get those belimbing seeds? What is it called in english?

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  8. Love your beautiful vegetables
    i am planting okras now but where do you get those belimbing seeds? What is it called in english?

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  9. Love your beautiful vegetables
    i am planting okras now but where do you get those belimbing seeds? What is it called in english?

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  10. Love your beautiful vegetables
    i am planting okras now but where do you get those belimbing seeds? What is it called in english?

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  11. Do check out http://www.wellgrowhorti.com/shop/ for ideas planting media which you can opt for your planting needs. There are also seeds (flowers / herbs / vegetable) available.

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  12. The Sambal Belimbing Chicken and Stir-Fry Okra with Dried Prawns looks so delicious. I am always trying to test out new dishes for my wife and I. We love Chicken with any vegetables. Additionally, we are adventurous people and would love to test out the Dried Prawns.
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