Guest Blog by Koree Perry
As a summer 2026 intern for Washington Gardener Magazine, I had the pleasure of growing ‘Puerto Rican Everbrush’ okra (while also failing to grow nasturtium flowers as my chosen pollinator plant). Throughout the entire internship, I tended to multiple plants at the community garden where we were growing things, but growing okra with my own hands was one of the most rewarding experiences I’ve had in my life!
I have never been a green thumb. To be completely honest, there were times when I was a child that I didn’t even like being outside, either because of the weather or bugs or not liking dirt on my hands. Throughout this internship, however, I’ve grown an appreciation for gardening and learning how to navigate a garden. The first few weeks showed me that the nasturtium seeds, for whatever reason, were not going to come up. I was a bit sad since I was excited to grow my own flowers, but I stuck through with my okra! I didn’t realize how quickly they would grow, nor did I realize how tall they would get. By the end of June, they were already nice and leafy.
While growing the okra, my main tasks after first planting were weeding and watering. They weren’t difficult plants to grow by any means, but weeds loved to sprout near them or wrap around them. At first, our editor-in-chief Kathy Jentz showed me how to make the most of my okra seeds by planting at least three seeds in five different holes. When the okra came up through the ground, I cut out the other two seedlings that grew from each group in order to let the strongest-looking ones have the best chance for full growth. Week after week, I pulled weeds and vines away from trying to strangle my okra until they plants reach over three feet in height!
As the okra pods began to form on the plants, they became incredibly long! Before this internship, I had only ever seen okra that was about the size of my palm, but the okra that I grew had gotten bigger and bigger by the week. At the end of my internship, we entered it into the Montgomery County Agricultural Fair where it placed fourth overall!
https://washingtongardener.blogspot.com/2026/07/gardendc-podcast-episode-293-in-defense.html and this plant profile:
https://washingtongardener.blogspot.com/2022/09/okra-plant-profile.html
What are you growing and harvesting in your garden this week?
About the Author: Koree Perry is an intern with Washington Gardener Magazine this summer 2026 session and is a Baltimore native.
About Fenton Friday: Every Friday during the growing season, I'll be giving you an update on my community garden plot at the Fenton Street Community Garden just across the street from my house in zone 7 Mid-Atlantic MD/DC border. I'm plot #16. It is a 10 ft x 20 ft space and this is our 15th year in the garden. (It opened in May 2011.) See past posts about our edible garden by putting "Fenton" into the Search box above (at the top, left on this blog).
