Normally, we have at least one bed with three foot tall okra by now. The beautiful yellow flowers foreshadow the rapidly growing okra pods. Residents and city hall workers come by daily to pick the okra pods. Stockpile them for a week in the fridge and there is enough for a side dish. Not this year. This year, our okra turned into pumpkins.
It’s not a Cinderella story. We had
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planted about seven okra plants in the large melon bed near the shed and blanketed them with compost from our compost bins. The okra starts were not strong and withered, save one. In addition, our compost did not get hot enough because it contained viable pumpkin seeds from last season’s Jack-o-lanterns. These seeds sprouted and pumpkin seedlings quickly overran the struggling okra plants. Our okra bed is filled with fast-growing, orange gourds.
Turns out, the best time to plant pumpkins for Halloween is in the summer. Pumpkin is one of the few seeds we can sow in the heat of the summer in Houston. While not deliberate, we were delighted to have created a pumpkin patch for October. In the meantime, we’ll plant some new okra starts to see if they can take hold. We know that you need your fix of okra, and that fried or pickled pumpkin just doesn’t fit the bill.
P.S.: Shortly after writing this article, we had to pull out the pumpkins due to an infestation. And voila! We found the okra. We’ll have okra for your Bloody Mary after all.