My okra plants has not started to flower when I left home to visit my parents. Fast forward 1 week when I return and not only has they flowered but some of the pods are larger than what I would comfortably eat.
You can use the tea plate and the 1 foot wide stepping stones for scale of the pod’s size. Sure, I only eat those on the plate and the rest get composted.
The truth is the bigger ones are not only still perfectly edible, but the ones I see at the market are at times comparably tougher and more fibrous even at a lot smaller size. It’s just that I can’t get over the stigma that the bigger ones would be horrible to eat.
It might not be the case for every type of okra.
The ones I planted were the Burmese Okra. I can’t tell for sure if it’s the type of okra that I planted, or the soil/watering/etc that affects the end result. As far as I am concerned; mine tasted good, less fibrous and still maintain light green color even for what I would consider over-matured pods.
It could be that this particular species is unique , or maybe it’s time for me to go to the local store and get some other type of okra seeds to experiment.