Okra has a secret.
As a plant native to west Africa it is commonly believed to have reached the new world during the slave trafficking era. So at one point in the past a captain of a slave ship
asked what the slaves would eat and somebody in times past presented him with okra which was brought back with the slaves.
Now funny thing this okra, sometimes it doesn't produce. It just takes the nutrients from the soil and grows but doesn't produce. So you need to whip out a stick and
beat it! Yep, you saw that right, you need to
beat it to make it grow the okra. Evidently it wounds the plant enough to kickstart an urgent need to procreate before death.
So, coincidental?
The origin of this post derived from
this post from OD. Thanks roho.