Okra flowers

Several weeks ago I wrote a blog about a favorite recipe of mine called "okra scramble".

http://windyacresnaturalfarm.blogspot.com/2013/07/okra-scramble.html

Now, I want to share with you some pictures of okra and how it grows.  Many of you probably already know this, but I'm sure there are others who don't.

Okra grows on plants that can grow to over 6 feet tall.  Here is a picture of a row that Tom has planted in the field.

I'm told that okra looks somewhat like marijuana, but I can assure you that THIS is okra!  Okra flowers are lovely.  The flowers are only open for one day.  They start out in the morning closed like this.

As the morning progresses, they begin to open.

By noon, they are fully open.

They have 5 delicate petals that are a beautiful shade of yellow.  And, the inside, as you can see is a deep burgundy.  They are really a very pretty flower.

By mid-afternoon the flowers fold back up and, if they have been fertilized, then they form okra pods like these.  Notice the spent flower on the left that is in the process of forming a pod.