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)
