Today's Q&A is about okra, one of my favorite things to grow, as you may know.

Cassidy sent me this question along with the picture. It was a picture of some okra that was pretty

large and she asked me, did I wait too long to pick these, first time okra grower? If I waited too long,

can I still save the seeds? Judging by her picture, her okra grower. If I waited too long, can I still save the seeds?

Judging by her picture, her okra did look pretty big, but I will tell you that my first

okra harvest many years, even the larger ones tend to be a little bit more tender than if I wait

later into August or even September. But the only way to know for sure whether your okra has

past its prime is to cut into it. And if you try to slice it and you get this resistance and also

this really weird cracking sound, then you know that it's way past its prime. It's very tough and you wouldn't be able to buy it into it anyway.

But if your knife slips through it pretty easily, like butter,

because the inside of a fully ripe okra pod is very musilaginous.

It's going to be very soft and a little slimy.

If the knife goes through it fairly easily, then you've got

okra that you can use. So that's how you can tell whether your okra is too big or not. And the

truth is it really does depend on what variety you're growing. I've always grown Clemson

spineless and the ideal length to be able to look for for them to me has been about

four inches or so. Sometimes I get away with a little bit more, but I will say that very rarely

is okra too small because once you're able to actually see the pod, you can eat it whenever you

want. I've also grown red okra that seems to be

a little bit more forgiving.

It doesn't get tough as quickly.

And this year I'm growing Alabama red okra

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