A Classroom in a Canning Jar: Pickling Homegrown Okra

Heads up, this page contains some affiliate links. That means if you click one and make a purchase, I get a small thank-you commission, but it won't cost you a penny extra!

After months of waiting, we finally spotted an okra flower! The kids and I had been diligently watering our little Earthbox garden every couple of days for months. The Florida summer heat almost did some of our plants in, but the okra… they like the heat! And when my kids saw those first okra flowers, there was so much excitement! I could see my older son’s face beaming. He had done it. He had grown his own okra!

We’ve spent the last couple of months tending to our little garden in the backyard, just waiting to have enough okra on our 3 plants, to be able to make a jar of pickled okra. There were days when it was so hot out, that in the amount of time it took to fill our watering cans at the rain barrel and fill our Earthboxes’ water reservoirs, we were covered in sweat. It wasn’t always a fun thing, making sure they stayed watered. I am hoping that through experiences like these, my children will learn the importance of responsibility, as well as patience. Those plants took their sweet green time! The leaves on the okra plant were larger than any I had every seen! I worried that the plants were focusing all of their growth on leaves, instead of fruit. Patience really paid off! As the larger leaves wilted and fell off, flower blossoms started to show up.

My 5 year old's hand on one of the giant okra leaves!

Then, it really started happening. We had a hard time keeping up with making sure to cut the okra pods before they got too big and tough. They were coming in fast. We needed to start using the okra right away. Now, though I’m not in “the south” anymore, I sure grew up there. Pickled okra often adorned our tables as hors de’oeuvres at family gatherings, and fried okra was always one of my top sides if I had a choice when I was growing up. I love okra. I’ll eat it just about any way you can make it, including raw right off the plant. But I know the sliminess of okra turns some people off. Pickling seems to take care of the slimy issue. I personally cannot eat tomatoes, but if you cook okra with tomatoes, that will also cut the slime significantly. But since that’s not an option here, we chose to start with pickles.

We had been planning to pickle our okra since we noticed the first blossom appear. We had to wait till we had enough to fill at least a jar. That happened within days. While I was doing a math lesson with my kindergartener, we were discussing shapes in nature, and one of the pictures that they used as an example was a cut piece of okra. I thought it would be even more impactful for us to cut into one of the okra we were keeping in the refrigerator and see for ourselves. We noted the hexagonal shape of the okra pod and to our surprise, the sections where the seeds are contained were heart shaped!

It all took off from there! We were obviously done with book-work for the time being and we were now fully absorbed in all things okra. While I prepped the canning pot and the pickle brine, the boys sorted and prepped the okra. Some were a little large so decided to try pickling slices. At least then you get to see the great hexagonal shape!

We ended up with two pint size and one half-pint jars full. My 3rd grader was so excited that he prepped a jar all my himself. In his eyes, he made the whole thing all by himself, and he felt so much pride in that. He had grown the okra, prepared it for pickling, filled the jar and participated/watched the whole canning process. He can’t wait to try his very own pickles.

After we were done and cleaned up, we discussed the things we learned:

• We had looked at shapes in nature.

• We had to use division and multiplication to do 1 and a half times the recipe we had.

• We learned a life skill, food preservation.

• And honestly, it’s a bit of a sensory experience too. The feel of the skin and the ridges of the pods, the slightly slimy feel when they’re cut.

• We learned about patience, resilience and responsibility through growing our own food.

Letting my children learn through these real-life experiences, instead of insisting we stick with our book work seems to make a stronger impact on their learning. They learn to be actively engaged, and to think on their feet. They learn to problem-solve and do a bit of critical thinking as we navigate any issues we encounter along the way. Providing my children with experiences like these is so important to me, and I love turning things that we want to do anyway, into a learning experience for them. We had a great time!

Now, go find your next teachable moment! I'd love to hear what everyday learning moments you've found recently! Share in the comments.