Gardening in OK: The Good, The Bad And The Ugly

First Fruits From Spring Garden

It has been an adventurous spring here on the McFarm in OK. We are happy to see our gardens producing something. Above is some Bermuda Onions, White Onions, Yukon Gold Potatoes and Cabbage. We also have brussel sprouts, red cabbage and cauliflower not quite ready.

The harvest isn't great because of the horrible rains we had early in the spring. Half our garden's nutrients were washed out into the field and we were afraid it was a total loss. So we are thankful to have anything to show from it.

Then in May,after it dried up we were finally able to plant summer vegetables: tomatoes, 3 types of melon, beans, cucumbers, peppers, zucchini, butternut squash, turnips, beets, and radishes. It was going great until the invasion from nowhere.

The Ugly Squash Bug Invasion!

We have spent the last week of May and first two weeks of June killing squash bugs and thousands of their nasty eggs. It made me start searching for ways to rid the garden of these pests that started killing off our plants row by row. First it was the zucchini, then the butternut, then the cukes and finally onto the watermelon.

Damage to Plants

The little invasion of pests destroyed one whole row of zucchini before it even finished getting their first true leaves. Web searches kept leading me to one website Garden Web. It gave some helpful advice and really some insightful answers. It takes general to specific inquiries about plants, zones, insects, and forums that are even area specific. I took the advice and tried sevin dust and it didn't seem to help much. Next we found neem oil concentrate and mixed up according to the directions and sprayed along with still checking for bugs and eggs. The neem oil seems to have done it. So now it is a once a week application we will be adding of it.
Discover Neem gave me a lot of information on how it works and what to use it for. The only drawback is that it smells nasty, I was told it had a nutty, garlicky smell, but that doesn't fully describe it's unique aroma (aka stink).  The plants are finally bouncing back and looking much better.

Zucchini Today

We also had a good surprise this spring. Two of our peach trees came back as new shoots, after a certain jr. botanist decided last fall that he would break them off because he thought they were dead and wanted to remove them out of our way.

New Peach Trees

The quest for successful gardening in our gloriously warm, humid state led me to search out plants that are happy here. Last year we planted pink eyed peas (aka purple hull, or cow peas). They were prolific and we spent a lot of time picking. The freezer is still full of them! Unfortunately, no one is really that fond of them. We have been pleading not to plant them this year.

Our Pink Eyed Peas Last Year

We also planted watermelon and cantaloupe which did fabulously (sorry my old computer hard drive ate the pics when it crashed.) Everyone enjoyed them and we have replanted them this year along with canary melon and farm woman melon.

The last item we are planting lots of are sweet potatoes. I found some help on a local farmer's website and he is sending us 50 sweet potato slips. I have 18 plants of beauregard sweet potatoes in the ground and will plant more when they arrive. Duck Creek Farms was very helpful and answered my many novice questions readily and his website has a lot of detail on sweet potatoes. There are 47 varieties that grow here! I couldn't decide so Gary at Duck Creek Farms is surprising me. They have orange, yellow, purple and white ones, I had no idea there were so many kinds and flavors. They store for up to ten months and you can use smaller ones to restart slips next year. The leaves are also edible and taste like spinach, what a great versatile vegetable.

Our Old Trailer Location: Now A 16X80  Sweet Potato Patch

Sweet Potato Plant

I also found some great information on tomatoes and growing them here in OK it was from the Duck Creek Farm Link giving Darrell Merrell's name that I found this site Tomato Man's Daughter . Lisa Merrell gives her top 10 list of tomato varieties for growing tomatoes here in OK and next year we will be trying out those varieties listed in her pdf file on tomato growing tips available on her website. I am experimenting with upside down tomatoes this year and researched which kind do best upside down, I chose Roma and planted it in an old container we had. It is doing well.

My Own Version Of An Upside Down Tomato Plant

I found a local agricultural college's index on plants and everything to do with them. OSU Fact Sheets. If you want to find local planting tips just do a search for your state's local agricultural science programs and there is a wealth of information at your finger tips.

This year I am also starting a garden binder. Last year I did one for canning and have a list of what we canned and what the garden gave us. This year I am adding which plants do well, garden tips, planting guides, pest problems, unfruitful and fruitful harvests. 

OK Fact Sheets

Binder With Loose Leaf Paper to Take Notes 

I feel happy about gardening again instead of defeated. Even with this year's little bumps there has been some great surprises and encouragement along the way that we can have a fruitful garden. Hope the information can help. Let me know what you think.

A Happy Garden Again