We frequently suggest that new gardeners should have a look at the OSU Guide for help with planting dates.

Here is a link that might be useful: OSU Guide

Hi Brenda and welcome to the most informative place you can find for help in Oklahoma gardening. I only joined a year or so ago myself, but I can't even begin to tell you how much information you can find on this site.

First, any time you are wondering - use the "search" tool found at the bottom of the home page. It will bring up past threads (providing the Garden Gnomes haven't messed with the links) that will provide a wealth of information on just about any subject you could ask. If it's still not clear, just come back and post a question. The OSU guide is GREAT (thanks soonergrandmom!)...but past threads give links that are very helpful also.

Second, that Farmer's Almanac has more info than you're seeing. Look at the plantintg guide. It should explain it's recommondations on "moon phase" planting and give you dates. No, it's not VooDoo - but my experience says it's a pretty good guide as to when to plant. If you've already started your tomatoes and peppers - you're a bit ahead of the game so be prepared to transplant those until the ground is the right temperature. Do a search of "okiedawn" and the "oklahoma mesonet" site. You'll be able to obtain ground temps there. (Okiedawn is one of our many elite gardening gurus...you'll see there are several if you read any threads very often. Some know lots about everything and some special in certain crops.)

Third, check the quality of your dirt. You've got pretty big plans for a relatively small area so make sure your plan will work before you overwhelm yourself. =) Don't mean that as a critic - just been there, done that! The quality (i.e. - sand? clay? need nitrogen? ph too high? low? etc.) is VITALLY important.

And last but not least - good luck and may Oklahoma weather work in your favor!

Paula
(NE Norman)

hey thanks paula, my soil is good dark and loamy... my dad came by and looked at where i had the plots... he is retired soil conservation person... and still has the 980 acre farm/ranch... just busy being retired and cows... took a look at the farmer's almanac with renewed eyes and yeah it is starting to come back in minute pieces... you mentioned moon and that kicked in the ole brain cells... thanks for the help...

Hi Brenda! Welcome aboard! I'm on a borrowed computer, right now, since mine is down. Can't write as much as I would like. But I did notice that you said you started beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, etc. It's too early. I start tomatoes and peppers, indoors, under lights, eight weeks before the last frost date. Here in Tahlequah, I believe the average last frost date is March 15. But we had a killing frost last April 14. Don't start beans and cucumbers until the soil has warmed, and then, I'd suggest you plant them directly into the garden. Carol (soonergranmom) gave a good link for you to check out.

Right now, I'd be preparing those beds and perhaps, gathering up bags of leaves, etc., which you can use as mulch. Some people are still setting them out at the curb. If you have Bermuda grass in your plots you will have plenty to do, digging up the roots. Bermuda will be a real pain in the neck, and this is the time of year that it's asleep, and you can get ahead of it a bit.

I can't write more now. But I'd like to see folks here, post on distances between different crops and between rows. You will want to plan your gardens. It's common that a person will plant things way too close together, and have problems later on.

Stick around this forum and ask all the questions you'd like. You'll get answers and friendship here.

George

Brenda welcome to the forum. Always nice to see another gardener. You will find the best people here of any on the internet. You have received some very good advice already. Like mentioned above I feel you started your seeds too early. And also maybe planning too much for the area you have. I know Dawn and some others can give you advice on square foot gardening. I'm fortunate in that I have plenty of room so tend to spread things out some. Dawn is our "Elite Gardener".

I live next to OK state line in extreme SW KS. If I roll over at night can sleep in the OK Panhandle. LOL. So my conditions are some different that others on the forum.

The one thing about the Farmers Almanac is which one you get? I know of at least 3 different versions. I would have to go and look to tell you which one is the one my mother and many old timers used. Think it may say original on it. I have one but not handy. One on the local farm stores carried two different ones last year. And one of them is not as user friendly in my opinion. I do believe in the signs but due to time constraints don't go by them as much as I should.

Like George said this is a good time to get ready. That is what I've been doing. As I know we will have another winter blast I want my garden ready to plant so I won't get in a bind trying to prepare frozen or wet soil later.

Hi Brenda,

First of all, welcome to the Oklahoma gardening forum.

Secondly, you've already received a lot of great advice from other folks and I'll just add a few more comments.

The OSU guide that Carol linked for you is full of helpful advice. One point that is easy to overlook in that guide is that the planting guide dates show a range of dates, with the earliest date shown being appropriate for extreme southwestern Oklahoma and the latest date show being appropriate for extreme northwestern Oklahoma. Everyone else should pick a plant date somewhere in between the dates given based on their location in the state. These dates are based on 'average' weather conditions so you sometimes have to modify them and plant later than the given dates if cold weather is hanging on and hanging on.

As George mentioned, and he used last year as an example, the last 3 or 4 years we've had later-than-average frosts that have wreaked havoc on plants that were planted "on time", so be sure to watch the weather carefully and plant only if you are fairly confident your last hard frost has occurred. It is better to plant a bit later to avoid last frosts and the loss of plants.

Paula mentioned that you need to check the quality of your soil and I agree wholeheartedly. It is great that it appears to be rich and loamy because that means you'll have good drainage and soil texture. However, unless you have recently had a soil test performed, you don't know if your soil has good nutrition or if it is depleted. You might want to get a soil test done now so you'll know what, if anything, needs to be added to the soil to ensure it has adequate nutrition levels to give your plants what they need to grow and produce.

It is basically too early to start seeds, as George stated, although you can start tomato and pepper seeds now as long as you're willing to pot them up into larger containers as they grow and assuming you have a light shelf or sunroom that will ensure they receive enough light to keep them from getting too leggy.

I am as far south in Oklahoma (a bit north of Thackerville) as you can go and still be in our state, with Texas to my west, south, and east and I haven't started a seed yet. I usually start tomatoes and peppers on Super Bowl Sunday and plant seeds of most cool-season crops around then or sightly later. Planting earlier than recommended dates generally doesn't work because plant roots need a specific soil temperature in order to grow, and often our air temperatures may be in the right range to plant before the soil temperatures reach the right range. Plants that go into soil that is too cold just sit there and don't grow until the soil temps warm up, and seed planted in soil that is too cold tends to rot before the soil warms up enough for the seeds to sprout.

If you'll list the herbs you're going to grow, I'll try to make some spacing recommendations for them since the OK Garden Guide doesn't mention herbs.

The size of the beds you mentioned will give you a total of only 112 square feet and there is no way you can grow very much of everything you listed in that kind of space. You can, however, maximize the production of your garden by growing vertically on trellises as much as you possibly can, and also by succession planting. As a point of comparison, my main vegetable garden is 60'x 80' which gives me 4800 square feet and I do raise a huge amount of crops for fresh eating, canning, pickling, dehydrating and freezing...but, even with a garden that size, I cannot meet my goal of growing "all" my family's produce. Some years I come pretty close to raising all our veggies, but I do need to add more square feet of garden space to really grow a year's worth of 'everything'. So, keep your goals and expectations realistic....while 112 square feet is a nice manageable garden for a first-year garden, it really is not that much space.

If I were trying to plant in two beds the size of yours, I'd use the smaller bed for cool season crops and the larger bed for warm-season crops. Then, as I harvested the cool-season crops, I'd succession plant that area with more warm-season crops.

So, from the plants on your list, you could plant your peas, potatoes and onions in the smaller bed. To do that, put up a trellis along the 'back' side of the bed. The trellis can be something as simple as 3 or 4 green metal fence posts and woven wire fencing or cattle panels attached to the posts using wire or plastic zip-ties. Plant your peas right along that trellis so the peas can climb vertically. Space your peas 2" apart at planting, and thin them to about 6" apart once they are a couple of inches tall. Then, plant a row of potatoes in the middle of the bed, spacing your seed potatoes 9-12" apart. In the front part of the cool-season bed, plant your onion plants, spacing the onions 4-6" apart. Your peas will finish up first, and when that happens you can put up the plants, put them on your compost pile and plant pole beans alongside that trellis as a warm-season follow-on crop.

In the warm-season bed, you'll have 64 square feet to play with, and that should leave you enough room for some, but not all, of the remaining crops you listed. In this bed, I'd also put a trellis along the back side of the bed. In a bed that size, I'd probably plant two tomato plants using cages to make them grow upright. Then, I'd probably plant 2 sweet pepper plants, 2 hot pepper plants and the herbs. I'd plant cucumbers and melons on the trellis, knowing that with the melons I'd need to use something (the legs cut off of old pantyhose work great, as do knee-high stockings) as a 'sling' to help support the enlarging melons as they grow. I don't usually add the sling until my melons are about tennis-ball sized. As the cucumbers slow down production in mid- to late-summer, depending on what the weather is like, you can remove those plants and plant a late round of pole beans if there is enough time left for them to produce a crop before your first freeze, or you can plant a fall crop of peas.

As far as varieties, if you are going to buy your seeds in a local store, you're pretty much restricted to what they have there. So, let us know if you're buying seed locally or ordering seed online so we can recommend varieties likely to be found locally OR the best varieties available online but not locally. The problem with most seed sold in stores is that the large seed companies choose varieties that "grow well everywhere" which is about as accurate as that "One Size Fits All" sizing used with some clothing. Many of us prefer to order our seeds online to get varieties that grow best here in our challenging climate.

Be sure to check out the OK Mesonet because it will give you all sorts of current and past weather data that is very helpful to gardeners.

I've linked your Okfuskee County climate pages from the Oklahoma Climatological Society because reading it will give you an idea of your average first spring/last fall freeze dates, annual precip, extremes, etc.

There are many, many, many 'old' threads on this forum relating to how to start a new veggie garden, recommended varieties and planting times, etc. I'd suggest that when you have time, you go back and read some of the old threads.

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: Okfuskee County's Climate Data

Heather I meant to mention containers as another option. They work well for tomatoes and peppers. The bigger the better for tomatoes. This can give you more garden room for the other veggies. The one thing I always stress to a new gardener is not to overdo it. And to keep gardening fun. Don't make work out of it too the point you get frustrated. My main garden is around 60x60. With two more 20x20 areas and then several small spots scattered around my property. I have never figured the square foot of it all. But for many years I only had an area 20x50. Jay

Looks like you've been given oodles of good advice! So I'll just give you a hearty welcome.

Hope your first season is wonderful!

Diane

hey all, ok the farmer's almanac that i have is the original one... 2010 The Old Farmer's Almanac... i have the plots all are tillered up and i have killed the bermuda grass with round up... i covered it with leaves from my neighborhood... and that was tillered in... i now have it covered with cardboard and leaves...

i started my plants inside my house under grow lights i will transplant the tomatos into my topsy turvy's later when they get older...and will take them outside when the time is right... upon looking at the almanac and the moon phases...i think that will be late march... upon reading the posts from questions... i think i am a little bit more over my head.. with potatoes and so forth... so am going to stick with tomatoes, peppers, squash, onions, and cucumbers.... will buy the potatoes, corn, and so forth from the local farmer's market like i did last year... Last year i grew squash and cucumbers in a topsy turvy and they did well... almost too well...had way too many... from two plants each... Thank everyone for their advise... i am making notes and will let you know what happens...i am so excited....Brenda

Brenda,
Sounds like you have a plan. And have put some work into it already. Pre planning and preparation usually pays off. As you garden you will learn more about double cropping(succession planting) although I do very little. I have enough room I don't need too. Of course if you asked my horses they would say I don't have any extra room. LOL. Please keep us informed. There will be a spring fling and I know everyone would enjoy meeting you if you can attend. Wishing you a great gardening year. Jay