Okra and mung beans companionship

Okras were planted  middle of December last year. I purposely planted mung beans alongside, because mung beans are the easiest to grow and will remain healthy till all seed pods turn black.  Okras on the other hand are plants with  tender stems. Over the years I have been growing okras,  they will always surrender to winds and bow to the ground. But somehow when we prop them up, they will continue growing.

I just hope, mung beans will take away some of wind pressure, allowing okras to wobble a bit through wind but remain upright.  It's a bit windy after 5.00pm over here till sunset, i notice one two bend a little bit, but the rest remain steady.

One interesting observation is that whatever insect that finds okra leaves so tasty never touch mung bean leaves.  Mung beans cant distract those insects away from okras . I will try other companions the next planting. For now, I am happy with mung beans taking away a portion of wind pressure and probably do nitrogen fixing to improve the soil too.

Okra's little buds.

Okra's little bud

Okra with ulam raja dry branches as support

Clean mung beans leaves against Okra leaves with holes

Clean mung beans leaves against Okra leaves with holes

bangchik and kakdah
garden: presint 8, putrajaya

It's Okra, but some call it lady's finger.

The seeds came from one matured  okra or lady's finger. There were so many seeds from a single fruit. I germinated all, and spread them at two locations. I know soon harvesting  is going to be bucketful....

Okra are slender at these stage, and can easily topple with slightest wind. I put 3 sticks around each plant. Sticks are old ulam raja branches. Mung beans were sown at the same time, along outside edge and the middle. There are two rows of okra here.  It's nice to see them packed closely, supporting one another and almost completely cover the soil. With expected drier spell over two months, this companionship of okra and mung beans will reduce evaporation, and keep the soil moist.

okra with mung beans (bendi dengan kacang hijau)

Okra and mung beans

Update 17.1.2016 - It rained at sunset for a few hours so no watering tomorrow. I managed to transplant a few balsam near the row of leucaena and 5 sunn hemp seedlings to close the gaping gap. In replace of cassava pulled out yesterday, only two cuttings were planted at the far corner of backyard garden.



bangchik and kakdah
garden: presint 8 putrajaya

red okra - bendi merah - red lady's finger

This is definitely the kind of okra / bendi / lady's fingers we are not very familiar with, both growing or eating. There are 9 plants all over the garden. They behave just like the green version, except everything seem to be red. Kakdah is thinking about the right recipe for these healthy looking fruits. The colour tone matches well against 50 roselle plants in the garden.

red okra

red okra

bangchik and kakdah

johor

the next Okra

The old okra / lady's fingers / bendi had gone. The new okras were germinated from old okra seeds. They had overstayed in polybags, since the preparation of new vegetable was delayed. Three okras were planted earlier, and now the strongest of them is flowering. Another 5 okras were planted a week later, and now they are a bit stunted due to current hot and dry spell.

three okras  growing steadily

three okras

the first flower of okra

The new vegetable bed is of open type, without hard edgings as the earlier vegetable beds. I wish to have it that way, no edgings, since it offers flexibility in altering shape, arrangements and type of plants to be grown. Somehow the new vegetable blend well with the lawn. For the moment 3 big okras, 5 smaller okras, 24 roselle, a lime tree about 3 feet high now,  and a cluster of periwinkles and zinnia are the inhabitants of our new vegetable bed.  Okra will soon give us steady supply of small long fruits.

bangchik and kakdah

johor

Markisa and Okra

I never thought such combination would work: markisa and okra together. Markisa is a climber, and will climb to the sky. Okra is destined to stay low with beautiful flowers and fruits. Of many vegetables I have grown, okra is most demanding. I have to see okra everyday, because the fruits grow by inches. We pick okra every morning, 3 for us, the rest for the neighbours.

I managed to put up simple triangular trellis for markisa to climb and for okra to grow at the bottom. The woods were taken from Hafi's place some months ago. It was only last week that I manage to put them up.  

Markisa/passionfruit: tendrils holding on

 I could have allowed markisa use fence to climb, but having trellis on my side is best. It would be easier for me to look after markisa and of course, do fruit picking when ripening season comes. Markisa grows well so far, earlier with simple yellowish leaves, one on each side of the main stem. Now markisa is showing it's true character, producing long tendrils and leaves branching out into three. They look very much like okra leaves.... How can I forget the single markisa given by Azura some months ago, a gift that manage to multiply. Razali has a few climbing crazily over his fence. So there we are, the connectivity made possible through markisa, a little gift from Azura.

Okra / Lady's fingers/Bendi

It's markisa I am looking for. Okra is temporary. By the time okra is about to die, markisa is almost ready to bear fruits..... In transformational leadership approach, it's like setting the road map to ultimately pick markisa fruits and while waiting,  okra/lady's fingers/bendi acts as one of the many quick wins to keep positive momentum going and  to maintain the right enthusiasm throughout the long wait.

Now I don't have much time to see the rest. By 1st November they start packing, and by 4th the latest, we will be in Johor Bahru already, a new place, a new page, a new garden.

bangchik and kakdah
Tanah Merah, Kelantan.

Update:

• SMS from a friend of Shah Alam days: The road diverged in a wood, and abangchik has chosen the one less traveled by, and it makes all the difference.
• Email from a friend of Ipoh days. Wah! petani modenn la ni! elokla tu beras pun nak naik harga!
• SMS from a friend of Seremban days: Malae2 gini.... Org dok kebung doh... Esok pulok laa.
• SMS from a friend of Putrajaya days: ke JB?.... kali ini sy benar2 pasti
• SMS from a friend of Tanjung Malim days: Deepavali = Depalari = Depa lari ke JB.

Let Okra branch out for more harvest.

I really have to thank Izmar, a friend from Kuantan. He must have the darkest green fingers on earth, as a full time farmer for some 20 years. Chili has been his specialty, very profitable he said. It's him that suggested cutting off the the main stem to about a foot height, to let more branches coming out. It should have been done very much earlier...., even before Okra learn to flower, he said

A little bit late, but I did cut all them to a foot height, yes, how they branched out. Now, instead of a fruit per plant, Kakdah is now enjoying 3 - 5 okra per plant! Since there are more branches and more fruits for okra to feed, the fruits tend to be smaller and a bit longish.  Veggie sellers understand this marketing aspect of Okra, and they know buyers prefer thinner and smaller okra, not the big  healthy looking ones. The smaller okra is convenient for cooking, serving and eating....., a gulp a piece!!

bangchik and kakdah, tanah merah Kelantan