The exact origin of okra is unknown. The plant is more then likely native to tropical parts of Africa, India, or Southeast Asia, where wild Abelmoschus species have the highest species diversity. The cultivation of okra requires little attention because of its natural resistance to drought, pests, and diseases. The unripe fruit pods are eaten as a vegetable in many regions of the world. Unripe okra fruits can be dried for later use. The leaves and young shoots are edible and cooked as a vegetable similar to spinach or eaten raw in salads. Okra is a vegetable@low in calories but a good source of Vitamin C, provitamin A, and minerals like calcium, magnesium, and potassium. The high content of mucilaginous sap makes the fruit ideal for people with stomach ailments. The seeds contain a greenish-yellow oil high in unsaturated fats. The high quality oil, called ambretta, is used in the food and perfume industry and as a therapeutic oil. I’ve read that in times when coffee wasn’t readily available, the seeds were roasted, ground, and used as a coffee substitute. We got curious and had an abundance of dry okra pods so @essenseofyi took the initiative to experiment. I was a bit skeptical at first but this actually is almost identical to the the coffee flavor I know minus the bitterness! Definitely a win as a caffeine free morning beverage. ・・・ #growninhaiti #okra #gumbo #AbelmoschusEsculentus #beneficial #edible #coffeesubstitute #moreningbeverage #tastetest #delicious #caffeinfree #organic #homemade #handmade #roasted #freshlyground #haiti #ayiti #organic https://www.instagram.com/p/B7GhAD8lsVq/?igshid=13yuirfx51t5g

Harvesting dinner into my hat. I’m growing White Velvet Okra between my rows of sprawling sweet potatoes and the vines are climbing the towering okra plants. The large pods are for seed, the small for dinner. White Velvet Okra has been an important part of Southern foodways (particularly in Alabama) for over 100 years. It was made commercially available in 1890 and was widely popular due to its tender fruit lacking spines, and beautiful contrast to the colors of tomato based soups, or sometimes in fresh salads, pickles, gumbos, or by itself. Seeds and story available at www.trueloveseeds.com! #whitevelvetokra #abelmoschusesculentus #heirloomokra #hatharvest https://www.instagram.com/p/Bnwt98LlJh6/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=hq7ct1mb4tka

Hill Country Red Okra hanging on til the very end! It's probably 10 feet tall, and still producing ripe, dry seed pods. This particular variety of the West African crop originated in the eastern portion of the mostly limestone Edwards Plateau in west-central Texas - also known as Texas Hill Country, and it is my partner Chris's favorite. #hillcountryredokra #heirloomokra #abelmoschusesculentus #seedkeeping (at Delaware County, Pennsylvania)

Hill Country Red Okra is said to have originated in the eastern portion of the mostly limestone Edwards Plateau in west-central Texas - also known as Texas Hill Country. This area has a large German population and influence, which meant opposition to seceding from the Union during the Civil War, and also meant introducing the accordion to Tejano music, for example. Okra is probably from West Africa, though some claim Ethiopia as the origin. Many believe enslaved Africans hid okra seeds in their hair on their forced journey across the Atlantic. Certainly, this crop is a taste of home for people of the African Diaspora. I'm growing this crop for seed because it's my partner Chris's favorite, and he's an okra fanatic. #okrafanatic #mypartnerchris #hillcountryredokra #hillcountryred #okra #heirloomokra #abelmoschusesculentus (at Delaware County, Pennsylvania)

Using the sun-amplification of the hoop house today to dry down some seed pods: Potawatomi Pole Lima; Brown Speckled Butter Bean (lima), Fagiolina del Trasimeno (black eyed pea), Hill Country Red Okra. I had started shelling them and found them a little too reconstituted from the humidity in the air, so to make shelling easier, I zapped them all for a few hours. It worked! #seedsaving #seedkeeping #seedcrop #seedproduction #seeds #vignaunguiculata #phaseoluslunatus #abelmoschusesculentus (at Delaware County, Pennsylvania)

Hill Country Red Okra is my partner's favorite okra - and he loves okra so much it is tattooed on his arm and in his email address. This variety is said to have originated in the eastern portion of the mostly limestone Edwards Plateau in west-central Texas - also known as Texas Hill Country. This area has a large German population and influence, which meant opposition to seceding from the Union during the Civil War, and also meant introducing the accordion to Tejano music, for example. Okra is probably from West Africa, though some claim Ethiopia and South Asia as the origin. Many believe enslaved Africans hid okra seeds in their hair on their forced journey across the Atlantic. Certainly, this crop is a taste of home for people of the African and South Asian diasporas. I'm waiting for the pods to turn woody - that is when the seeds will be ripe both for saving seeds AND for making a coffee substitute. #hillcountryred #hillcountryredokra #abelmoschusesculentus #heirloomokra #texasheirloom #seedkeeping #okracoffee #mypartnerchris (at Delaware County, Pennsylvania)

My friends Mason and Wiley from Bear Bottom Farm in Dillwyn, Virginia grew White Velvet Okra from seeds we shared with them. They sent back this fresh seed with a note from Mason: "They did great and tasted wonderful. I got a 3rd place ribbon for them at the Abermarle County Fair behind two entries of Clemson Spineless, the most generic okra. Wiley cleaned up in the oddball veggies category". Here's a post from last year: White Velvet Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) has been an important part of Southern foodways (particularly in Alabama, but also parts of Mississippi and Louisiana) for over 100 years (according to @slowfoodusa - see their terrific history of this variety). It was made commercially available in 1890 and was widely popular due to its tender fruit lacking spines, and beautiful contrast to the colors of tomato based soups, or sometimes in fresh salads, pickles, gumbos, or by itself. Like many important regional food plant varieties, the scaling up of globalized agriculture brought a flooding of the market of cheaper, more standard and generic green okra varieties being grown farther away, and so this velvety white okra is somewhat rare these days. #whitevelvetokra #abelmoschusesculentus #southernfoodways #alabamafood #okra #whiteokra #bearbottomfarm #seedsharing #seedkeeping #seedsaving (at South West Philadelphia)

#harvestoftheday #okra #abelmoschusesculentus #organicgardening #permaculturegarden https://www.instagram.com/p/CBEwp1uBYoL/?igshid=1q1371buggq6t